The Awful Truth
by David Knight
Summary: With his Fullbring taken by Ginjo, Ichigo's despair has never been greater. But when Tsukishima decides to kill him, it will awaken something buried within Ichigo. Something that will reveal truths that he would have never believed possible.
1. Awakening

**Author's Notes: It's been a while since I've written anything to post. This summer due to personal issues, I started to look for ways to better express myself and began to turn back towards writing. Bleach has been one of my favorite Manga/Anime series of all time and I had this idea in the back of my head but never had the drive to really write it down. I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have with this if it wasn't for a fellow author who I consider my partner in this project, JMB Fictional Writing.**

 **Lastly, I want to dedicate this story to my grandfather who passed away last month. He lived a full life and made an impact on all of his family. He will be missed, yet I know one day we'll see all those that have gone before us.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

 **The Awful Truth**

 **Chapter 1: Awakening**

It had come to this.

Where these truly his final moments? All that he had fought for? All that he had worked towards to achieve and regain, was it all meant to mean nothing in the end? Was he going to die so close to having back everything he wanted and fail?

"Truly a horrible thing, to have everything ripped from you again," Ginjo said, hair slick with rain as the Fullbringer gave an almost pitying look towards him.

Ichigo did not know if he was sincere, for only a few moments ago he had turned his blade upon him, and stolen the power he had desperately tried to regain. Now he was there, in the rain, drowning in an ocean of despair.

"Let's go. He's suffered enough; let's not add any more to it," Ginjo said, turning away and moving off.

But where he turned away another stepped forward.

Tsukishima stood in front of Ichigo, that easy smile on his face never fell as the Fullbringer looked down on him. How Ichigo hated that smile, empty and cold as his eyes, but even more so knowing that this cruel man that had robbed him of his friends and family was nothing but an accomplice. Working for the very man that had given him hope, to give him a goal that he would fight tooth and nail to receive; the one man that had dashed it all away.

"Goodbye Ichigo," Tsukishima said.

Ichigo looks up, the blade was raised and the intent behind it need not be guessed upon. This was going to be the end, at the end of a blade to an enemy. It was always how he thought he might go out, but deep down he felt the crushing grip of failure smother him. Death would not be a release.

 **Stand Up.**

 _What?_ Honestly, he did not know why he should, it was not even a stray thought brought on by defiance. He had none to speak of, his powers were gone and everything he held dear had already been taken. Whatever he felt, that semblance of self-preservation couldn't have been anything more than an echo of someone who wasn't as powerless as him.

 **You heard me. Stand up Ichigo.**

Again he felt it, not a voice, but more akin to a lingering will. A force that moved across his mind and through his body. Not speaking to be heard, but felt and understood as to the meaning. It was a familiar presence, a strong one. Could it be he was not the one who was fighting to survive now? Was something else there, something within him calling out?

 **Has the will to live truly left you? Have you really become all that you despised in life?**

It felt chiding; a hand to the back of the skull, and the familiar callousness of the strike nearly knocked his self-pity away. It rushed through his body; a familiar sensation of power and strength, its strong dominating presence brought a sense of familiarity to mind.

 **Have you fallen into such despair these last seventeen months, you have honestly forgotten my voice?**

It came to him, not as a voice or even an echo, but as a feeling. One he had known for a long time, a presence he would never forget, and in that moment he felt it's presence grow and spread. No longer a hidden impulse within his subconscious, but something he could feel as if it was touching his very shoulders.

"…Tensa Zangetsu," Ichigo whispered, the world fading around him, darkness surrounding him as the familiar weight of the ocean pushed down onto him.

Tsukishima was gone. Ginjo was gone. The forested park and the mansion at its center were gone and he was somewhere familiar now. A place he had not seen for so long, a place that he felt at home within and at peace to walk within.

His Inner World, the dominating skyscrapers reached to the surface of the water high above. Like a sunken city it sat just beneath the dark murky waters surface, once they dominated the sky but now an ocean of despair swallowed them.

"That name no longer holds meaning for me, for I am no longer Tensa Zangetsu. Now, I am just Tensa."

Ichigo turned, glancing over his shoulder to see the young man that had met before he had trained for three months to learn the Saigo no Getsuga Tenshou. He stood there now, devoid of any Hollow traits, restored back to whom he once was.

"Tensa?" Ichigo repeated, and as much as he wished to ask more, he knew such questions would not be as important as the ones that came flowing from his lips. "How can I hear you? I lost my Shinigami powers. You said after I used Mugetsu, I would lose them, meaning I'd lose you as well. So how can I…"

"I understand you have questions but we do not have time to answer them all. Look at your foe Ichigo," Tensa said, raising his hand to stop him from speaking further.

Ichigo watched as the world blurred, everything around him fading away for a moment, and he was once more back in the forest. Tsukishima standing before him, blade at the ready and intent clear. Ichigo looked at Tsukishima, his form devoid of color, motionless like a statue. It was a situation he was familiar with, one he had been saved from once before.

"How are we here? How did you come back? Are my powers returning?" Ichigo asked. There had to be something, to come back here and to speak with Tensa Zangetsu had to mean something.

"I cannot keep this going for long. I am not as strong as I once was. I am using all my strength to try and give you a fighting chance," Tensa explained. "You are in this position, Ichigo, because you despaired and ceased to walk forward. Too long have you been forced to sink into your pain and loss, too long have you remained stuck in this abyss with no way to reach the surface. I won't let you remain this way, and I will not allow that darkness to consume you."

Tensa slammed his fist into the flood, darkness pooled beneath him, growing darker and denser with each passing moment. Chaotic and twisted energies coalesced there, something was being brought out.

"Right here and now, I will pull out the source of your despair, to give it form and shape and mold it into your greatest strength. But I need you to have the will to act. Do you have the will to walk forward with me at your side? No matter what may happen? No matter what truths come to light? No matter what secrets are revealed? Will you fight with the same convictions as you always have?" Tensa asked, looking up at Ichigo.

"No matter what will happen? What are you talking about? And what power Zangetsu? The despair I feel has always been against me, always been an enemy, how can I turn that into a strength? How can I gain strength from the one thing that has always held me back?" Ichigo asked, not understanding his Zanpakuto's reasoning.

There was a tense silence for a few seconds and in those few seconds, neither spoke or tore their gaze from the other. Fear danced in both their eyes, but for different reasons.

"Many times Ichigo you have been kept in the dark, forced to fight on without truly knowing all the facts. I have a secret Ichigo. One that has been a greater hindrance than even this ocean of despair," Tensa said somberly, weariness appearing in his eyes as he let out a sign. "There is a truth I have not shared with you. One that I regret to admit has caused you more pain than I am able to ask forgiveness for."

Ichigo felt speechless, his despair growing, a few skyscrapers actually shattered in the distance.

"Zangetsu, have you lied to me too?" Ichigo asked.

"I have already told you, have I not? I am not Zangetsu, Ichigo. I am Tensa and I have never lied to you. I have kept a truth from you, yes, but I did it to protect you. As I said to you seventeen months ago: you are what I wish to protect."

The words he heard from Tensa were as strong as steel. But he had kept secrets from him, ones that had been important, and Ichigo knew that there was much they needed to discuss.

So many questions that absolutely needed answers, he had never forced others to tell him these secrets, whatever they hid from him and whatever details they did not reveal he never questioned. It was never important if it didn't help him in his goals than they were not important. But this was different, and as much as he wished to shout and throw punches, he knew he couldn't.

For out of all the people who could have hidden something from him, the Old Man was the one he trusted to do so with no ill intent. He would not demand answers, why this was hidden from him? Or how he could have done this to him? Those were not the questions he should be asking, but only asking him if he was ready to talk.

But knowing his executioner's sword was nearly to him, he had no time for any confessions. He trusted him, and there was nothing the Old Man could do that would shake that faith. The strength behind Tensa's word had given him strength, he did not need to speak up to give him any reassurances, they understood well enough.

Ichigo could feel Tensa smile at him. "Then rise up and use the power you have always had. What was taken from you was only a shell, a measly strip of the might of the true power within you. Show these fools who you truly are and no longer be bound by chains!"

Ichigo turned back, finding Tsukishima standing there, the blade was already moving and with every moment that passed the speed of the descent increased. He looked down at the dark chains that had coiled around him, a restricting coil that had held him back, and now they shattered and flickered into white light.

Ichigo felt something deep within himself, something new and unknown to him. Yet he did not feel the malign presence of the Hollow, this was a power he had not known before, forming from once restricting chains. Whatever this was, he could feel it within him, calling for him to use it. Soon he felt a weight in his palm, one that was familiar but also alien to him.

But he smiled, he knew what this was, and while he was still uncertain of what he was holding onto. He only needed to know one thing, and that was to attack.

And he did.

* * *

"…Tensa Zangetsu."

Tsukishima halted for a moment, what had he said? He did not understand at first, but perhaps the realization of the situation had sunk in and he was at his breaking point; trying to find some semblance of peace and calm in the storm that had engulfed his psyche.

"Tsukishima, what are you doing?" Ginjo called out.

"Just tying up loose ends," Tsukishima replied, he knew that leaving Ichigo alive would be dangerous as well as cruel.

If the fact the Shinigami were willing to sacrifice him to them meant anything he was likely going to die anyway. So why prolong his suffering? He was without any reason to live anymore, what else could there be for him to have?

Besides, always best to make sure that anything he knew is not given to the wrong people.

"You don't have to do that," Ginjo said. It wasn't part of his plans to kill Ichigo. He was much a pawn of the Shinigami as he had been.

"No, I don't. I _need_ to do it, Ginjo," Tsukishima replied, dropping his sword right towards Ichigo's head.

But then he heard a clang, and for a moment his eyes widened at the silver blade blocking his own. Where had that come from? It had taken him a few moments to realize who was holding that weapon, and in that time he was thrown back by the user.

Tsukishima looked on, watching as Ichigo rise back to his feet with blade in hand. The weapon pulsed with energy, like flames they coursed over its surface and dispersed as a shape began to form, and soon a single edge blade was in hand. Could it be his Fullbring? No, that had been taken and there is no way he could regain it. Especially when his combat pass was still on the ground next to his feet.

Where had that weapon come from?

* * *

Ichigo took in a breath, his heartbeat was steady and he used that same rhythm in his chest to calm his other nerves. As his spirit regained the balance it once had he looked up, contempt and loathing working its way into his heart as he looked upon Ginjo and Tsukishima.

"Why is it that every asshole I have ever fought always thinks that they have me when I am on my knees? Why do they gloat and start monologuing their entire life story to me?" Ichigo said, anger present in every word as he narrowed his eyes at the two Fullbringers. "Maybe they have such an ego they don't realize that just because I am on my knees…"

He stepped forward, appearing right in front of Tsukishima and swinging, the Fullbringer was quick to block the strike. Skipping backward the Fullbringer stopped right next to Ginjo, the man had a scowl on his face as he gave Ichigo his full attention.

"… Doesn't mean they are safe," Ichigo replied, raising his blade and pointing it towards his former ally. "But in this case, I will forgive your stupidity, because it was actually the thing I needed to regain this power."

A frown adorned Ginjo's face; he was obviously confused about the turn of events. Not that Ichigo could blame him. Even he did not know the full scope of where this power had emerged from, or what power Zangetsu had given to him.

"You idiot," Ginjo scoffed, waving this off in such a way that Ichigo thought he may actually be trying to salvage the situation. "Are you really trying to mock me or could it be that you haven't really looked at what is in your hands?"

Ichigo felt like rebuking him, even calling out his poor attempt to regain control of the situation, but he thought for a moment. His eyes lingered on the blade, his own reflection seen within the silver surface. This was certainly not his Fullbring, for that had been stolen. Nor was it his Shinigami powers, for how could they be if he still resided within his human body? Never once had he manifested them within his earthly vessel.

It was a power he had never felt before. This was not Zangetsu, not as he knew him; this was something both new in both substance and power.

What was this power?

"Kurosaki!"

Ichigo turned, looking to his wounded friend. Ishida was on the ground, bloody and hurt, but even the pain did not stop him from looking astonished. Disbelief flickered behind his glasses, which was set solely on his blade.

"Why do you have a sword like that?"

Ichigo had not truly looked at his weapon, and now he saw the actual weapon as a whole and what it actually meant in his hands. The weight of the weapon reminded him of Zangetsu, along with the single edge and length, but the form was wrong.

No longer a large crude sword, its form was straight and reminded him of a broadsword, appearing to be made of pale silver. The grip of the weapon was comfortable, actually possessing a handle, but short and meant to be held in one hand. But the one piece of the weapon that drew his attention, and made him realize what kind of power he was wielding: the crossguard.

The crossguard was shaped as a cross with five points. Embedded on these points were five blue sapphires that seemed to churn with unreleased power. It was this cross that Ichigo came to understand what this power was, for he had only seen this from one other person. He turned back to Ishida, his eyes falling onto his wrist where his Quincy pentacle rested. That five-pointed cross, nearly identical to the one that now rested upon his sword.

So many questions came to mind as he looked at the symbol. Many had been mounting since he spoke with Tensa, but again he had to ask himself. _Was this the secret you were hiding from Tensa? Is this the truth you tried to protect me from knowing?_

* * *

Tensa looked down at the blade in his hand, sighing as he felt the burning questions that reverberate through Ichigo as he sought to understand what this meant for him. Much was being revealed and no answers were being given.

This blade was the same Ichigo now wielded, a weapon that Tensa had recalled from ancient memories locked away in Ichigo's Blood. Memories of a person that he once used to represent.

"In time Ichigo you will come to understand, but we both have our battles to fight," Tensa said, looking up from the blade, and over the Inner World.

Gone were the great towers that rose in the sky, the oceans having dried away and leaving only a desert of white sand behind. Rubble of the old world remained, destroyed and broken down by the darkness that now sought to make itself manifest in this place. It had been the creeping shadow that had hid within the confines of great towers and mighty spires, symbolizing hope but in truth were prisons that sought to subjugate rather than inspire.

Best that they were destroyed, along with the thing that lurked within it.

"I have faith in your strength, but my own is not one that can hope to compare to this enemy," Tensa said.

Perhaps he had hoped too much, prayed that by destroying the towers and Inner World that he would be beaten. No, this shadow would not be so easily bested, for he was just as cunning and dangerous as Tensa himself. For once they were no different.

The darkness coalesced into a single form, forming a billowing cloak that flowed behind him like a wave of darkness. But the dark hair that fell down and over his face did little to hide the smirk on his face. Had Ichigo been here he would have found such a smile strange, for he had never known that face with such a grin. For never had Ichigo seen Old Man Zangetsu smile, and not with such a cruel upturn of the lips.

"You must have been so desperate, to destroy everything in the hopes of defeating me without a fight," The Old Man said. His smile never faltering as his eyes locked with Tensa's.

"If only to spare Ichigo the same corruption that lingers within you," Tensa replied curtly, narrowing his eyes.

"What you call corruption, is nothing more than wisdom brought about by many generations and many lives lived. You would not know, for that form you take all but shows how naïve you have become," Old Man Zangetsu replied, giving a derisive look onto Tensa.

"I have not forgotten, but your cruelty cannot be allowed to remain, not when it endangers Ichigo," Tensa replied, leaping from the perch he stood upon and down to the sands. "You may seek to subjugate Ichigo but even I know you don't wish for him to die. Why are you still trying to move him along a fate that will end in tragedy?"

He was met with a scoff.

"There is no denying it; the end is coming for this world and all upon it. Ichigo would never be spared from it," Old Man Zangetsu stated as if it was meant to be. "This is a mercy, one that I had not thought possible. One that he deserves over many others."

"Deserves? How can he deserve this? We can save him!" Tensa barked.

"Childish, truly childish," Old Man Zangetsu replied. "You do realize there is no changing his fate. What you spared Ichigo from today was a mercy compared to what he would face when the Sealed King comes for him. Do you think the fate that awaits him will be any better?"

Tensa did not wish to answer to that, to speak on what had been seen and known to come to pass, so many possible futures and many ending in horrible fates for Ichigo.

"We can change that!" Tensa exclaimed. "We can stop that from happening!"

"Our only chance now, is for him to die at the hands of our King, once he is part of the whole he will be at peace. No mutter pain or suffering, only contentment within the whole," Old Man Zangetsu said, narrowing his eyes, a look Tensa shared with his older counterpart.

He felt disgust well within him. To think that this piece of him, this fragment, thought that Ichigo dying at the hands of Yhwach would give him peace. There would be no peace there, no freedom, only a new hell for him to endure; along with all those other poor souls.

"I am fortunate that when Ichigo came to me all those months ago seeking to learn the Saigo no Getsuga Tenshou, that I separated myself from you. Merging with the Hollow had given me the chance to carve myself away from you as your presence minded with the Hollow," Tensa said, fist tightening around his blade. "Separated from you, I was spared when Ichigo sacrificed his powers. I was free to grow and realize that I could not allow him to die. Cut away from you I know now that there is a chance I can save him."

Tensa raised his blade, aiming it towards his other half.

"Hearing those words from your mouth only proves I was right to cut myself away from you," Tensa said with resolve. "And with this blade, I intend to cut you away like the cancer you are."

The Fragment chuckled, clearly amused at his defiance.

"This is a battle of dominance, do you honestly believe you can beat me the way you are?" The Fragment challenged.

"Belief is irrelevant," Tensa replied. "I either defeat you to protect Ichigo or fail, knowing what you will eventually do to him."

"At least you understand that much. But you are simply half a power that has cut himself off from the source of our strength. Where I on the other hand…"

Tensa watched as the world around him began to shift and churn, breaking apart as the Fragment of himself raised his hand and showed him the difference in their power. No other motion was given, only a raised hand, and a broadsword of pure reishi formed in his palm. Tensa knew that this was but a fraction of what he could do, but none the less it was still a daunting thing to be on the receiving end of that power.

"My ties to his Majesty are still strong. He knows what is happening here and his intent is clear, you will not be allowed to interfere with his true goal." The Fragment said. "Be torn apart knowing, that all you have fought towards will not be in vain, Ichigo will be safe. He will be free."


	2. Confrontations of Doubts

**Author's Notes: Thank you to all that have read this story. I've seen there is an interest in where I am going due to the number of follows. If you wish to know more please leave a review, or even send me a PM, this story has many little details hidden in its depths and I would be happy to discuss these things with you.**

 **I hope this next chapter will help to give a more clear view of the direction the story will be heading. But more are to come, if you feel impatient don't hesitate to ask, maybe I will give you a taste of what is to come.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

 **The Awful Truth**

 **Chapter 2: Confrontation of Doubts**

Many things in life were impossible.

For Uryu Ishida, he had the knowledge to know that some things could defy all conventional laws of understanding and reason to allow for the impossible to happen. Ichigo Kurosaki was one such individual, from the battles he had fought and the obstacles he had overcome in the short time he had been a Shinigami.

He had done things that he knew should not be possible, from how quickly he could grow in strength to defeat a Captain after only a month and a half of training. Ichigo was able to attain Bankai, a feat that could take decades to achieve, in only three days. Even surviving having his heart blown out from his own chest and healing said injury without a care.

Ichigo had been able to do impossible things, almost as easily as breathing.

But there was no way what he was seeing now was even remotely possible, it couldn't be impossible if the odds of it even existing were statistically zero. Yet in a feat that boggled the mind Ishida was now questioning a very important detail about Ichigo. Was he human?

He suspected he was at least partially, considering his father was a Shinigami, but what about the other half. For so long he had suspected that he was a human that was harnessing powers not his own, just like when he had been given Shinigami powers by Rukia Kuchiki. Or when he was able to attain them through Urahara Kisuke's training method after he lost the borrowed powers fighting Byakuya Kuchiki. The power he had gained from that method was purely his own as gained from his father's side; a power that had been lost seventeen months ago when he sacrificed them to defeat Aizen.

But this was not the same. This was not that same power that had reawakened in a desperate attempt to save himself.

Ishida had been fighting spiritual beings for years, he knew how to sense and differentiate between the many different spiritual beings in the world. What he was sensing now, he did not sense some spiritually aware human, a Shinigami, a Hollow or Fullbringer.

No. What he sensed was something he never thought would be put in the same sentence when describing Ichigo Kurosaki.

He was a Quincy.

* * *

 _Didn't expect that,_ Ginjo mused as he looked at the sword in Ichigo's hand.

Quincy were not exactly something he was familiar with. He knew about them and their history with the Shinigami, but apart from that he had nothing else to go on. The only one he had encountered and dealt with was Uryu Ishida, and that was a sneak attack rather than an actual fight.

 _But where did it come from? I never sensed anything like this when I was scouting him out._ Ginjo asked himself. He had been staking out Ichigo and his family for weeks before he made his move, learning all he could about him and everything around him. He learned all he needed in that time, from his Shinigami powers and Hollow ones, even that his father was a Shinigami. Ginjo had learned everything he needed about Ichigo, there was nothing else to discover, and yet this pops up on him with no explanation.

 _There wasn't anything like this when I sensed him out, no Shinigami powers left, only a spark of his Hollow powers that could be drawn out to a Fullbring._ Ginjo thought furiously. He had assumed to have covered everything, _But a Quincy? How the hell did he hide this from me? How did this escape all our attention?_

Given how Ichigo was himself looking at his sword with clear puzzlement in his eyes, Ginjo realized that Ichigo himself had no idea about where this power came from. He didn't know if to count that as good or bad news, because this was an unexpected turn of events; one that he wasn't sure how to deal with.

"Looks like you were wrong, guess we should have killed him when we had the chance," Tsukishima said, smiling in that way when he thought he was being smart. He was being smart, a smart ass that was, and it irritated Ginjo how he did it so well.

Ginjo truly had no desire to end Ichigo's life, leaving him powerless and weakened was more out of mercy than to leave him with any shred of power. He wasn't a threat to anyone like that, especially him, and most certainly to the Soul Society. He had no illusions that Ichigo would be fine and dandy. After a betrayal like this, it would take him months if not years to psychologically recover. But he would still have his life. He would be of zero value to anyone and in time he could move on with his life as a normal human being. Something he could never have again since that fateful day, even if he wanted it.

Except now he wasn't as powerless as he expected him to become.

"Best finish him off now," Tsukishima said, raising his blade and intent on completing his execution, only to feel Ginjo's sword cross with his own.

"No," Ginjo stated, stepping forward and past his comrade.

"You really are taking this mercy thing a little too far," Tsukishima said, his smile never dropping, and Ginjo didn't know if he was being cavalier or just actually trying to scold his behavior. "When I was about to end him, he was a wounded mutt with some bark. Now thanks to you, he has some bite."

"I know," Ginjo replied, realizing that walking away from here and leaving Ichigo unharmed was no longer possible. He was going to have to beat it into Kurosaki's skull that it would be in his best interests to leave them alone. "Give me a few minutes with him; I still need to test out his Fullbring."

Drawing his Fullbring, Cross of Scaffold, Ginjo gripped the weapon with both hands and took up a defensive stance. He smirked a little, seeing he had gotten Ichigo's attention. This would be a good warm up for him and to see if Ichigo had become more powerful.

"What do you say Ichigo? Want to help me test out your Fullbring? Or better yet, why not come and try and get it back." Ginjo said, watching as Ichigo loosened his stance.

His only warning of an attack was when he saw Ichigo's eyes narrow, and then he was right in front of him. Ginjo was surprised by the sudden lunge; he had not expected a quick charge, not after having his powers taken, and certainly not something that fast.

He reposted the blow, forcing the blow to the side and he twisted his weapon in hand to counterattack. The swing was dodged, Ichigo moving past his guard and stabbing for his exposed side, he parried again with a quick pull of his weapon. Skipping away Ginjo forced Ichigo to maintain his distance, he was still fast and just as agile.

Ginjo saw Tsukishima standing there, looking ready to tag in, but there was no way he was going to have any of that. "Hey, Tsukishima, stay out of this, he's mine."

Tsukishima gave him a pout as he said that, it was so forced that Ginjo was nearly ready to yell at him for making such a stupid face. But before he could Tsukishima brushed his hair back and sighed.

"Fine. I know better than to argue with you when you are in that kind of mood."

"Thanks for being so understanding," Ginjo replied, giving his comrade a deadpan stare. He turned back to Ichigo, that smoldering look in his eyes had only intensified as he looked ready to continue their fight. Ginjo was more than happy to oblige. "Come on Kurosaki. Show me what you have got!"

* * *

Not too far away three others were spectating the scene, watching the fight unfold between the two former allies, turned enemies.

Having come to aid Ichigo in his desperate fight against Tsukishima and Xcution, but they had come to a halt. The single turn of events that had come from the near fatal end of Ichigo had forced them all to a halt, to observe and see what would happen next.

At least for two, but Rukia Kuchiki felt herself rooted to the spot in shock as she watched Ichigo go toe to toe with Kugo Ginjo.

This was not how she had expected it to turn out, in her mind she had an image of how this would transpire. The moment Ginjo would reveal his true colors would be when they struck, ready to protect Ichigo and restore the power he had list. Again it would be by her hands that she would restore his Shinigami powers, a moment marked by nearly two years apart, she would be the one to bring him into the spiritual world.

But the moment that sword appeared, all had been forced to a halt.

Her feet frozen to the ground and her mind struggling to understand what was happening, how it was happening. What she sensed was not his reawakening Shinigami powers, not even the fearsome spiritual pressure of his Inner Hollow. This was something she had only sensed from one other individual. Uryu Ishida, it was a Quincy's spiritual signature.

 _This shouldn't be possible? He isn't a Quincy. Is he? But how could he be? He never told me, no one…_

It was then that she realized that things were too quiet; the small little patch of earth she and her two conspirators were hiding in was too quiet for her liking. She turned and looked at them, and both had calm expressions on their otherwise expressionless faces, nothing was given away. No surprise or intrigue, they knew what was happening.

Isshin Kurosaki, the former Shinigami Captain, gave no visible reaction to the powers his son wielded. No surprise, but Rukia had to wonder if he knew that his son had this power. Never did she suspect that Ichigo's father was a Shinigami, not until she learned after the Winter War. So for him to hide other things, about Ichigo's heritage, she suspected as much.

Kisuke Urahara she did not have any doubts about, that man was clever and knew things few others could. He was too crafty to not know that Ichigo had this kind of power, the only thing she wondered was if he knew it would appear here. Given that they had yet to step forward she suspected otherwise.

"Both of you know, don't you?" Rukia asked, looking at them calmly as she made the accusation.

Neither replied.

"How much longer are you two going to stand there and not saying anything?" Rukia asked again.

"This is none of your business," Isshin replied, crossing his arms in an almost typical manner she suspected was not sincere enough to be taken seriously. "This is a family matter."

"It's all of their business now," Kisuke announced, face calm and words cold as he made the declaration, even as Isshin glared angrily at him. "This is one secret you can no longer keep silent on, Isshin. That ship sailed the moment Ichigo materialized that Quincy sword for all to see."

Isshin seemed to tense at this, there was some uneasiness in his posture.

"Ichigo may be the most deserving of the truth, but he won't be the only one asking for it after tonight," Urahara continued. "And I think it would be better for all of us if it was given freely rather being demanded from Yamamoto himself, especially after he made the concession to restore Ichigo's powers when had the legal right not to."

"I am not saying a damn thing until this mess is over. Not until I tell my son first Kisuke," Isshin said without hesitation.

"I'm not arguing your point," Kisuke retorted. "I'm simply telling you that we are in a precarious position. You need to be ready to answer the questions that you know will be asked of you."

Rukia watched the exchange, more was going on here than she realized, they knew something, and they were not saying anything. Whatever was happening she wanted to know, but there was no way she would be able to pry it from their heads. They were going to be tight lipped about this, then all she could do was wait and see.

"Yes," Urahara's voice drew her out of her reverie. She knew he was addressing her. "Yes I knew about Ichigo possessing Quincy powers. But I never suspected that they were anything but dormant." Rukia saw that even though he was talking to her, his eyes never leaving the fight between Ichigo and Ginjo. "I had my doubts that wasn't entirely the case, but a lot of things popped out at me that made me reconsider my first assessment."

Rukia watched as Ichigo vaulted over Ginjo's attack, twisting in the air to slash at the Fullbringer. Ginjo ducked down and away from the blade edge, before swinging up towards the airborne Ichigo, who blocked the strike and was thrown aside. Recovering he flipped back to his feet and charged back in, never stopping for a moment in attacking.

"I didn't have the time to check or confirm my hypothesis. Not just because of Aizen and the threat he posed, but also because it was not my place to reveal something like this," Kisuke stated grimly. "When Ichigo lost his powers, I suspected that would be the end of it. That he would go on to have a normal, peaceful life and there wouldn't be a need for me to check."

Ichigo pivoted on his feet and dodged a downward slash from Ginjo, swinging his own blade up he narrowly missed the Fullbringer's chest. Ichigo ducked down as the blade came veering towards him, as it passed over him he lunged forward and stabbed forward. Ginjo was quick to defend himself, twisting his blade to shield himself from the stab, and flicking it forward to push him away.

"But, it seems, I was wrong," Kisuke said, bowing his head slightly. "And now, I ask myself, what other assumptions have I made about Ichigo that I have believed to be absolutely right, are in fact absolutely wrong?"

* * *

The battle was far from being in his favor.

But that was no excuse to give up, to lie down and die when there was still some fight left in him. Tensa knew that he could overcome his doppelganger. Greater odds had been overcome; Ichigo had defeated enemies greater than him in power and skill before. Who was to say that he could not do the same?

"Submit!" The Old Man said, swinging his blade forward and carving through the air.

"I would rather be erased than submit!" Tensa exclaimed, leaping aside as the blade nearly grazed his chest.

Sailing away he twisted his blade through the air, pulling on the particles of dust around him and forming them into arrows. With a flick of his blade he released the arrows; they went flying towards the Old Man. Not deterred or even slowing in his advance he slashed them from the air and locked blades with Tensa.

"Resisting will only make this more painful, you know as well as I do that is something you do not want," The Old Man said, pushing Tensa away. "If you do recall the past of our maker than you know that fighting an inevitable conclusion will only make the pain worse."

"It gives me more reason to fight back harder," Tensa replied, swinging his blade up.

The sand beneath the Old Man rose up in response, and with a twist of his blade the sand closed in and sealed his doppelganger in a tomb of sand. Trapped Tensa swung again, carving an arc of energy in the air and reaching for it. He pulled back on the energy and formed a bow and arrow.

He released the pulsing string and let the arrow fly, the massive projectile struck the coffin of sand and exploded. Showering everything with sand, but he did not think for a moment that he had dealt a telling blow against his doppelganger. Not by a long shot.

The Old Man charged through the sand and smoke, blade poised to strike, and Tensa had only a moment to raise his weapon to block. It saved him from being cut, but he was thrown back and through the ruined skyscraper poking from the sands.

 _He is stronger… could he be growing stronger?_ Tensa thought, that bolt should have done some damage and yet it did not seem to be the case.

Landing on his feet he looked up to the now collapsing building, the Old Man barreling through it and coming straight for him. Tensa acted quickly, raising his blade and making many quick swipes through the air, and it responded to him. The sand and rubble that littered the ground formed a net-like barrier ahead of him, like a web of reishi that should serve its purpose.

"You think a string of reishi will protect you? Do you think this can hold me back?" The Old Man said, shouting as he began carving through the ropes easily.

But Tensa had not expected them to hold him back, for as soon as he made the final swing he struck. Lunging forward as his sword continued its upward arc, his swing was far from complete and he was wide open. Tensa sliced toward his neck, but his weapon was seized by the Old Man's free hand.

"A clever gambit, but one that any fool could have thought up," The Old Man said, clearly unimpressed. "We were one in the same once. Do you honestly think you can outsmart me with such a simple trick?"

Tensa watched as he tried to swing his blade, but he was unable to do so. He looked to his arm, and just noticeable to the naked eye were dozens of small threads that wrapped around his arm and weapon. Tensa smirked, his trap had worked.

"A trap within a trap, those reishi ropes were connected together by hundreds of smaller threads. You saw the ropes because I wanted you to," Tensa said, before he ripped his weapon free from his doppelgangers hand.

With a single swing he shattered the foundations of a nearby ruined building; the tall structure lurched towards him as it began to collapse. Tensa gave his doppelganger a single glance, finding the same indifferent expression on his brow, before he disappeared just as the building collapsed on their position.

Tensa stood several hundred feet away, looking as the explosion of sand and rubble as it fell onto his doppelganger. That would do little against him, he could withstand his blade with his bare hands there was no way a falling building would do any damage. That was concerning, his blade could not cut him, a feat Tensa was certain he could not say for himself.

"I will need to find another way of beating you," Tensa mused, watching as the rubble exploded upward as his doppelganger escaped.

The fight would continue, yet Tensa knew the longer it went on, the smaller his chance for victory would become.

* * *

He was getting closer, Ichigo could see it.

Ginjo wasn't stronger than he was before; he was remarkably just as powerful as he always had been.

For whatever strength Ginjo had gained from taking his Fullbring it was still not affording him a boost in his physical abilities. At least not yet, and he was not going to let him get the chance to grow any stronger than he already is.

Ichigo ducked and leaned into the Fullbringer's guard, he had found that this was where he was most vulnerable. His massive weapon afforded him great reach and even defense, but at this range he was open, had he been slower Ginjo likely would have a few holes in his jacket, and torso. He had been lucky to evade his edge, but that was going to change now.

He drew back his blade, focusing as he channeled power to it. "Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo chanted, but as he swung he was shocked to see nothing happen.

It took him a moment to realize that he couldn't use a Getsuga, because he didn't have his Shinigami powers back. These were his Quincy powers and he had absolutely no idea how to use them. _Shit!_

That moment it took him to realize his screw up was just the right amount of time for Ginjo to counterattack, and unlike Ichigo he got the first hit in. Ichigo sagged to a knee when he felt that massive blade slam into his chest and shoulder, yet there was only a mild amount of pain. Looking to the point where he had been hit Ichigo was surprised that he had not bleeding, let alone having been cut to the bone.

Ginjo was equally surprised about this, staring at the impossibility. _Steel cuts flesh! At the very least I should have drawn blood!_ Drawing back his weapon, Ginjo saw he had in fact cut through Ichigo's jacket and shirt with that last swing, but his chest had not a scratch on it.

 _I am not going to let this chance slip away!_ Ichigo narrowed his eyes, pushing this question out of his mind. The tables had turned back into his favor and he wasn't going to let it go to waste. With Ginjo still distracted, Ichigo swung upward and landed the first blow of this fight, a nice deep cut in Ginjo's left shoulder.

Ginjo reeled back, holding down the scream of pain he wanted to give as the Quincy blade was dragged along his flesh, cutting down his arm halfway to his elbow before able to gain distance away from Ichigo. His left arm now hung uselessly to the side, blood dripping down it. _Shit. I got careless. Too interested in breaking in this new Fullbring and not taking him seriously enough,_ he thought with anger towards himself. It was a novice mistake and he knew it. Just because he had the greater spiritual pressure didn't mean he was going to win without question. If there was one thing Ichigo was good at, it was shattering expectations.

Ichigo didn't say anything. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes. He saw Tsukishima hadn't moved from his spot, yet that damn smile remained. _I need to take Ginjo down now before he decides to get involved, regardless of Ginjo telling him to stay out of this fight._ Moving forward, Ichigo rushed forward towards Ginjo with the intent to disarm him.

But he felt a familiar pit in his stomach formed, something was going to happening and it was bad for him. Ichigo turned and looked to see someone barreling towards him, and with what time he had left he raised his sword to block the blow from striking him.

It did little good, as he was catapulted off his feet and he collided with a tree. Wind knocked from his lungs and his body aching all the way down to his bones, Ichigo knew only one person who could hit that hard. With a breath, he lifted himself to a knee and with a heavy heart saw that Chad had taken to the field, his former friend now standing guard in front of Ginjo. Behind him was Orihime, her Sun-Sun Rikka already at work on healing Ginjo, who looked on bewildered by their sudden appearance.

"What the hell? What are you doing?" Ginjo barked, looking at Orihime.

"Stay still, Orihime will heal you," Chad said, his brown eyes locking with Ichigo. "I'll stop Ichigo, Ginjo. I'll make him see reason."

 _Damn it!_ Ichigo scowled and readied himself for a fight that he did not want. But with Chad and Orihime still under the influence, he had no choice but to face his own friends as enemies. It was hard enough when he had to fight them in the mansion, he held back while they went all out. Believing that he was the one who was wrong and they were trying to 'make him right'.

"I don't know why you are doing this, Ichigo," Chad said, raising his right armored fist as he charged. "But I can't let you hurt anyone else!"

Hating himself for this, Ichigo felt like he would have no choice but to actually fight against Chad now if expected to live through this night.

But an unexpected savior came to his rescue, as an arrow sailed towards Chad and forced the Mexican giant to stop his advance and protect himself. He raised both arms and shielded himself from the arrow, leaving him motionless as he looked on at the one who attacked him.

"That is far enough, Sado," Ishida said, bow in hand and furrowing his brow.

"Uryu?! What are you doing?" Orihime called out, surprised by his actions from the look of it. "We have to stop Ichigo! He isn't himself!"

"You have it wrong, Orihime," Ishida said, summoning another arrow and waiting for his opportunity to fire again. "Both you and Sado are not in your right minds and if I need to force reason upon you, I will."

"Ishida, you know us," Chad said, raising his arms in a placating gesture. "You know Tsukishima. Ichigo has been acting rashly, believing our friend only seeks to harm him. We are only trying to help."

"The fact that you don't see your current definition of help is warped tells me there isn't any point in reasoning with you," Ishida said sadly, never loosening his grip or aim of his bow. "Neither of you will accept what I say; you are both too far gone for my words to reach you."

"And this weasel has never been my friend," Ichigo added, having pulled himself up to one knee, supporting himself with his sword. He glared at the smirking Fullbringer, wishing he knock him flat into the ground. "In fact, he just tried to kill me."

Orihime and Chad stared at him for a moment before Orihime shook her head, laughing dismissively. "Ichigo you're such a kidder! Shūkurō would never harm any of us. He's our best friend! He's practically family! He..."

"Enough!" Ginjo yelled, pushing past Orihime, knocking her to the ground hard enough that it shocked her and it showed on her face. She saw the expression Ginjo's face as he glared towards Tsukishima and it was anger. "I told you not to interfere! What part of that did you not understand?"

"I didn't do anything," Tsukishima replied, smiling as he gave a half-hearted shrug. "They acted of their own free will."

"Don't be coy with me!" Ginjo snapped. "We both know that free will don't come into play when your Book of the End is involved. Now enough with the mind games. We don't need them anymore."

"As long as Ichigo is alive I think having them on our side of the field is a good idea, don't you agree?" Tsukishima inquired his smile dropping as he made the statement. "Better to have them here fighting for us than for him." His smile dropped further when seeing Ginjo's agitation only grow.

Ichigo rose back to his feet, shaking off the pain and glaring ahead of him, he still had to defeat Ginjo before he could take out Tsukishima. It was the only way to stop the Book of the End and free his family and friends from the Fullbringer's control. But that also meant getting around Chad and Orihime.

Fortunately, he wasn't without an ally. "Ishida..."

"I have so many questions I want to ask you right now Kurosaki, but now is certainly not the time," Ishida stated, bow string still drawn back. "Not with these enemies in front of us. Do you have a plan of attack?"

Ichigo nodded. "I need you to keep Chad and Orihime occupied while I take out Ginjo and Tsukishima."

"I think I can manage," Ishida replied. _But do you think you will be able to handle those two with a power you don't even understand?_ He thought to himself.

Ginjo was still arguing with Tsukishima, barking at him. That their plans required them to capture Chad and Orihime, something that seemed to be unsettling the both of them as the listened to the two Fullbringer's argue.

"Do I look like I care about the plan right now?" Ginjo asked.

"You were quite insistent on this course of action when we began, I don't see what has changed," Tsukishima replied. "This was always the plan."

"Not my plan. Just whatever plan you concocted while I was away," Ginjo snidely remarked. "I may have required you to use the Book of the End on his friends and family, but only to bring him to us and facilitate this scenario where we take his Fullbring. However I do not recall giving you a free pass to go off the reservation again and cause another string of mental breakdowns for your own amusement."

Ichigo looked to both Chad and Orihime, both of them seemed to be staring off into nothingness, as if the very conversation being held between Ginjo and Tsukishima was actually causing some emotional turmoil. _Could that actually happen? Could they have a mental breakdown if their memories are revealed to be conflicted?_

"I won't tell you again. Release them now. I am not having any more bodies on my hands, not when they are people that are not involved in this." Ginjo demanded, his words sounding like an order, his eyes glaring into Tsukishima and seemed to cow the man. "We are better than this, we are better than the Shinigami. We will not become like them, I taught you that much."

Then something seemed to click for Ichigo, as if he had come to some sort of realization.

"Who are you Ginjo?" Ichigo asked, capturing his attention once more. "Who are you right now?"

"What are you on about?" Ginjo asked lamely.

"You talk so much about power, getting stronger and being on top of the world. But why would you need it; Power for the sake of power?" Ichigo shook his head. "No. In spite of you deceiving me this entire time, not everything about you was a lie. I think I got to know you well enough that simply amassing power isn't what you are about. You have something that drives you to do all this. And it all comes back to the Shinigami. You want to become stronger because of them. So who are you really, Ginjo? Who are you to the Shinigami?"

Ginjo was silent for a moment, then gave an annoyed huff before he gave a hollow smile.

"You and I used to be so alike; it was almost scary how similar we are when I started looking into your past," Ginjo admitted. "Few differences here and there, family, friends and all that. Separated by decades and yet the same story is being told all over again."

Ichigo remained silent, his glare deepening as he waited for him to get to the point.

"We are the same, Ichigo. The only difference is that I know something you don't," Ginjo said, pointing towards the ground a few feet away.

Ichigo glanced over to it and found laying there his combat pass, laying on the ground and untouched.

"We've been used Ichigo, how many times can you count that you have been manipulated and used by them?" Ginjo asked, some bitterness working its way into his smile. "I am willing to bet you would disregard it because you didn't care what they wanted, if it benefit you who gives a damn what they want. But in the end, it does matter, because to them you are nothing."

"Get to the point, Ginjo," Ichigo demanded.

"Do you actually know what that combat pass is? Did you ever question why they would have Substitute Shinigami when the very notion of giving humans their powers is considered illegal? Did you ever consider asking who the first Substitute Shinigami was?" Ginjo asked, smirking as he let the sentence hang there.

It hit Ichigo pretty hard when he realized it, "You? You were the First?"

Ginjo nodded. "I started off like you did, seeing ghosts and having to deal with them. It wasn't that long that the Hollows started become attracted to my power. A Shinigami came along to stop them, but he didn't have what it takes to win and he knew what losing to a hollow would mean. A painful death as it devoured his soul."

He closed his eyes for a moment as if relieving the moment. "But then he sensed me and he found what he thought was his way to survive." He opened his eyes and looked Ichigo dead in the eyes. "He ran me through with his zanpakuto and poured all of the power that he could into my soul, transforming me into a substitute while he was left with minimal power. You know what his words to me were, Ichigo? 'Try not to die too quickly. I need to get home.' He actually said that to me, right before he ran off while leaving me to fight for my life."

Ichigo stared back at Ginjo in disbelief. He knew there were some people in Soul Society who were just as bad as here in the World of the Living but this...

"At a loss for words? Unlike you, I wasn't as lucky with the Shinigami who gave me my powers. Rukia Kuchiki at least gave a damn about human beings, which more than I can say for the majority of them," Ginjo stated with a grim smile on his face. "Mine was a pathetic coward, hoping that by pumping his power into me, I would be the bigger, more tempting target for the hollow. That while it was feeding on me, he could use his meager amount of spiritual power to get back to Soul Society and recover."

The smile on Ginjo's face became malicious. "It never occurred to him that the Hollow would ever give up on prey. It ignored me and hunted him down like a dog. Even to this day, I take great joy in remember that moment. Remembering how that Hollow started eating the coward and his screams."

Ichigo felt sick to his stomach, hearing how Ginjo took joy in the suffering of another being, regardless of what he had done to deserve it. Still, he kept his peace as he needed to hear the rest of it.

"I was new to the powers then but I realized though that was my best chance to kill the Hollow. So as it was feasting on the coward's corpse, I beheaded the Hollow," Ginjo continued, looking at his right hand that he had out stretched. "I had these powers for a long while after that, and it was liberating, to have that power at my fingertips, to be something more. To have strength beyond my wildest dreams." He was smiling now, not malicious or grim, but a genuine one. "You know what I am talking about don't you? After all that Fullbring of yours was made in the image of your own Shinigami powers. You obviously remember that feeling."

Ginjo was silent then, his smile dropping as he scowled. "Then nearly a year later, they came for me. I ran fought and killed to protect myself, and in the end, they decided that I was useful. Kept me around, used me to clean up Hollows and anything else they needed of me. They even gave me this nice little badge," Ginjo presented the Substitute Shinigami badge, holding it up for a moment, before glaring at it. "I was their property, they didn't give a damn about me or my life. They used me and everything I had gained up until the point they betrayed me was gone. I was a small fish in a big ocean, and they didn't give a damn about sacrificing me for their own gain."

Ginjo strolled forward, pushing past Chad as he glared at Ichigo dead in the eyes. "You want to know who I am, Ichigo? I am you once you come to realize just how expendable you are. I am the reflection of the man you will become when you learn the whole truth from them."

Ichigo was silent for a moment. That little admission had given him a lot to think about, and it had answered his question. He did not need the little details, Ginjo had said enough.

"So let me ask you a question: Why are you fighting me? Right now, why are we at odds with one another? You think I wanted you dead?" Ginjo questioned him. "No, I didn't. I was going to leave you there broken and beaten on the ground and powerless, but you would still be alive. It was my way of showing you mercy. Why? Because those people you so desperately want to see, they will not hesitate to stab you in the back the moment there is even a glimpse of power not under their control."

"So why? Why do you fight for a race that will only betray you?" Ginjo yelled, demanding he be given an answer. "Tell me Ichigo!"

Ichigo looked around, finding many eyes on him. The impassive eyes of Tsukishima, the conflicted ones of Chad and Orihime, and the steely orbs of Ishida. There was a tension in the air, one that he knew that would break as soon as he uttered a word.

"Do you know its name?" Ichigo finally replied, looking Ginjo in the eye.

"What?" He responded, not with any of his earlier anger but with confusion. This was certainly not a question he had been expecting.

"Your Zanpakuto. Did you know its name? Did you ever come close to knowing its name?" Ichigo asked. He waited for a minute, waiting for Ginjo to respond but that entire time he remained silent. "What about those things you said were taken from you? What was so precious that was stolen away from you that made the Shinigami your enemy? What was it? I'll answer it for you. Nothing."

Ichigo knew what kind of man Ginjo was, it had shaped the man he was now.

"You never had friends or family, so how could you have anything worth protecting and growing stronger for? You had nothing but yourself," Ichigo responded. "But a Shinigami, a real Shinigami, they have at least one partner in the world, and that is their Zanpakuto. Born from their very soul, the one thing that defines who you are and what you will become."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at Ginjo, who seemed too stunned to respond. "But you never had that. All you had was an inflated ego born of power you got out of sheer chance. Power you were desperate to hold onto for the sake of it."

Ginjo was no savior, nor was he a great leader; he was just a man that had nothing that truly gave his life meaning. Power without purpose and reason is corruptive, it turns and becomes something vile that infects the soul and changes you. Power is meant for a purpose, to give one the drive to use it towards what they wish to protect.

All that Ginjo had was that power, and as he wielded it he grew arrogant and self-entitled. He had become less than human.

"Unlike you, I didn't lose my power because it was taken from me. I gave it up. I sacrificed it for the very people you have been trying to demonize, from the people you are trying to erase my bonds with, to steal them away and change who they are!" Ichigo shouted, his resolve would not be shaken. "I know who my friends are. I know the kinds of people that I consider my comrades, and as long as I breathe I know where I stand with them. As long as I have this power, I will have a reason for it to exist, and that is to protect those precious to me."

Ginjo stepped back, looking annoyed. "You would stick your neck out for them?"

"I have been doing that since I met them. What makes you think I would change now?" Ichigo challenged, readying his blade. "And once I restore my friends back to who they were, all those answers I have been withholding, I plan on asking them."

"No… no, no, no!" Orihime shouted, clutching at her head and chest. "You're wrong, Ichigo! Can't you see you're not right! You aren't the same Ichigo we all know!"

Ichigo looked at her quickly, he could see it. She was beginning to unravel. She was drenched in a cold sweat and her entire body quivered as if it was about to go into shock. Chad was no different, having already fallen to a knee.

He had to act. He had to stop this before it got any worse.

"Stop this already! Please Ichigo!" Orihime yelled, her voice pleading for him to give in. "Just stop and return to normal!"

"He isn't the one that needs to return to normal, Orihime."

The words caused him to freeze. They had been spoken right behind him, and it was not that someone was behind him that gave him pause. Neither was the white sword the pierced him through the chest, no pain coursing through him as he looked down at the white blade. What truly shattered the composure he had struggled to build this dreary night, was he knew that voice.

He turned, looking over his shoulder, and for the first time in seventeen months he saw someone he had once thought he would never see again. That moment when he laid eyes on her, did he feel such joy that nothing could compare to it.

And it was her smile that showed it was real.

"Rukia."

"You never change," Rukia said, her smile never dropping. "You big dummy."

Ichigo felt the surge of power flow through him, a familiar feeling coursed through him that elevated his soul to something greater. He knew this feeling well.

He felt his Shinigami powers returning.

He felt Zangetsu.

* * *

Tensa was on his last leg, he knew that this was only a delaying tactic now, defeating the doppelganger was impossible. His strength was growing while his own was stagnating, unable to rise to challenge his opposite.

Flying upwards he tried to delay him, to come up with a plan to best him, yet nothing seemed to work. All his bindings shattered, nothing would hold him down, and even if captured he was only restrained for a moment. Not long enough to attack, not with there being nothing in his arsenal that could harm the Old Man.

"It is sinking in isn't it? That there is no hope, no chance, a horrible thing to feel all over again," The Old Man shouted, chasing after him and barging through all his defenses. "But you knew that this was inevitable, didn't you?"

He vanished, Tensa having only enough time to turn and see the Old Man was behind him, then he was seized by the throat. Tensa choked as he was dragged down and towards the sand, slamming into the ground and held there.

"It is truly a pity, and I will admit being on this side of the fight brings up feelings of shame. To be the one to reenact the same harrowing memory that made us what we are. What you so desperately are trying to hide away from. The only kindness to be taken from this is that you will not feel this way for long." The Old Man said, raising his blade up, Tensa tried to free himself, desperately clawing at the limb holding him. "Stop struggling like an inane child. This is a lesson you should not be forced to relearn, so I send you back to whence you came. Go back to his Majesty knowing that all will be well."

The blade was poised for his heart, Tensa knew that he couldn't be allowed to fade away like this, but there was nothing he could do to stop him. What chance did he have? What hope did he have to face him alone? _I won't accept this! I cannot accept this!_

Darkness came and fell upon the world.

Tensa thought for a moment it was over, that the blade had come down and the end had come, but he was wrong. The sky had darkened, and a new presence was felt.

A dark oppressive presence had arrived and its intent was clear.

"What is this?" The Old Man grunted, his eyes shifting away from Tensa. But Tensa noticed something, and soon enough so did his doppelganger, who halted to look up to see someone was standing in front of him. Garbed in white Shinigami robes and wearing a black mask, standing silently there and looking solely at the Old Man.

For a few moments there was no sound nor a movement made, and then a blood red orb formed in front of the mask. The Old Man released his hold of him, shooting up to try and attack before the attack could complete, it did little good.

The Cero tore across the desert sands and consumed the Old Man, who was more than likely thrown a distance away from Tensa. _And with luck, some damage will have been done to him. One can only hope_. Tensa looked up at his savior, finding his gaze now upon him. He had to wonder if he would be receiving the same courtesy from the Hollow next.

But the Hollow lifted his mask, smirking as he usually did. "Well, isn't this a fine mess you've gotten yourself into?" he asked glibly.

His next act all but took Tensa by surprise; a hand was presented to him. He obviously was helping him up. Such a gesture he never would have expected from his Hollow, their history and all made it clear that they were not allies.

Tensa accepted the hand, pulling himself back to his feet and retrieving his sword, but he could not keep his peace and not ask. "Why did you save me? Would it not have been your way to simply let me perish, and finish him off by yourself?"

"That's cruel, do you think so little of me?" Despite the comment, the Hollows smirk never disappeared.

Tensa did not need to wait for the real answer to come, the Hollow only giving a little titter before he spoke with a sliver of sincerity.

"I know who you are," The Hollow said. "I merged with that asshole a long time ago. I know what he was and his intent, and I sensed you as well and what you desired. We were one not so long ago. I know you as well as I know Ichigo, and I know why you are doing this."

Tensa should have suspected that, the time he had merged with the Hollow to train Ichigo in the Dangai was more than ample enough time for him to learn. To understand one another and learn all that they needed to from one another.

Tensa knew this Hollow as well, he knew that he did not desire to harm Ichigo or take away his body. His methods were brutal, but they were all for the reason to give him the drive to make Ichigo realize his own potential. The Hollow was always looking out for Ichigo and wanted only to ensure he could protect himself.

"Well then," Tensa began, turning towards the smoldering trench that had been created due to the Cero. "Shall we make sure that nothing stands in our way of doing what we want?"

"Damn, I am starting to like this more assertive side of you," The Hollow said, shouldering his Zanpakuto and smirking.

"Then let us fight together as one. Are you ready, Zangetsu?" Tensa asked, looking to the Hollow, who smirked at finally being called his own name.

"Damn right I am," Zangetsu replied eagerly. "Let's show this son of a bitch that no one screws with the King and lives to tell about it."

They would have their chance in the next moment, strolling up the charred path was the Old Man, there was little damage to the doppelganger, but something was amiss. Tensa saw it in his face, it was beginning to change, age was beginning to show and a reflection of a man he knew well passed through his mind.

 _I was right. He_ _ **is**_ _becoming more like him._ Tensa mused bitterly, seeing the resemblance to the one man that he had hoped would not have any power here.

"I see that you have been restored, and as usual you are being an inconvenience," The Old Man said, his expression neutral as he came to a stop a few feet away. "It will be a chore to lock you back up, but it seems I…"

"Shut up already," Zangetsu said, his pale face holding an expression reminiscent to the one it was sculpted after. "I stayed in my cage because I saw you were doing a decent job with Ichigo. I came out when you didn't have the means to make him grow stronger. That was the deal we struck so long ago, all for his sake." He narrowed his eyes at the Old Man in anger. "But as it turns out I was wrong to trust you. Everything you did was to hinder him from attaining his true strength and that just pisses me off."

A wave of spiritual pressure exploded from Zangetsu, rage and fury billowed around his form as waves of darkness.

"I know what you are planning, what is going to happen if I don't step up and take back the reins. Your time as the King of this world has come to an end. It is time that I make sure that Ichigo is ready for the battles ahead," Zangetsu roared, a smirk playing at his lips. "I am going to tear you apart, and I am going to enjoy it immensely."


	3. The Precipice Battles

**Author's Notes: If there was ever any doubt that there was interest in this story, I just have to look at how well people responded to the last chapter over the first one. As always I appreciate your comments, and look forward to hearing what you think every chapter.**

 **This one turned out to be longer than expected but I just couldn't see any where to cut it. The ending of the chapter really does fit and will lead us to the next phase of the story.** **We may be at the end of the Fullbringer Arc, but as you can see there is much story left to be told and I promise you, while things may appear to be looking up for Ichigo, his true nightmare has yet to begin.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

 **The Awful Truth**

 **Chapter 3: The Precipice Battles**

Ginjo hated to admit it but he should have probably listened to Tsukishima about finishing off Ichigo. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that however, he wouldn't hear the end of it.

All he could do was sweep aside his pride and stab his blade into the ground, using it to anchor himself against the massive outburst of spiritual energy.

How does he manage to pull off all these damn surprises? Ginjo asked himself as the wave of spiritual energy died down. His eyes widened, however, as he bore witness to the changed Ichigo Kurosaki, no longer a human that possessed Quincy powers. Instead he was draped in a familiar Shihakushō, a few amenities were present such as straps along his chest and bands along his feet and hands.

 _He regained his Shinigami powers? How is that possible?_ _How could anything remain once I took his Fullbring?_ Ginjo narrowed his eyes at seeing these strange oddities on his uniform. _Something is not right here._

This was beyond his understanding right now. Ichigo was displaying power and abilities beyond what Ginjo had suspected of the former Substitute possessing. Denying that he was using powers he shouldn't have would be pointless. He had to be on guard and make sure he wasn't caught up in another surprise.

But that would avail him little preparation as he took notice of the one behind Ichigo. Ginjo recognized her as Rukia Kuchiki. The Shinigami that had given Ichigo her powers nearly two years ago and likely had done the same again just now. That boded ill for him, if she was here than that meant that the other Shinigami were not far behind, possibly waiting to strike, he had overstayed his welcome and was now exposed.

There was no point in denying it now; he was approaching the end game. He would be fighting to the finish here. Holding back or hiding his hand was out of the question, he was going to fight against whatever the Gotei sent at him and he was stuck with one of two choices: win or die.

* * *

Ichigo took in a deep breath; he smelt the air and notices things that he couldn't as a normal human. Subtle traces in the air, tickling heightened senses beyond that of taste and smell. This feeling was something he remembered more keenly when he had lost his powers, it had been something he had come to realize with a great many things over the last eighteen months.

To have them back made his heart swell, for remembering this was nothing compared to having it returned to him.

And yet not all things were the same.

He lifted the blade he had used to defend himself with against Ginjo, raising it over his shoulder and sheathing it behind his back. Almost to his will the Quincy blade was engulfed in wrapping and hung just over his shoulder.

Raising Zangetsu up he examined the weapon, resting the flat of the blade in his other hand and looked over the changed sword. The handle was the most obvious change, and one that felt comfortable on his fingers, it had been the first of several changes he noticed of the blade.

But it was still Zangetsu.

It was still the blade he had taken with him in many battles. That weight and the familiar presence within all but soothed any minor concerns he may have had. He smiled as he looked at his reflection, glad he didn't have to face such an expression again. It was genuine and he did not need to lie to himself anymore.

"Thank you," Ichigo said, turning and looking at his long-missed friend. "Rukia."

Rukia nodded, the smile of her face was an exact reflection of his own. "It seems you have managed become a little more mature since we last saw each other."

"A little?" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow, taking the light jab in stride.

"I'm giving you that much seeing how you recovered from your earlier appearance," Rukia responded. "Crying like there was no tomorrow, giving up any notion of hope? It was as if everything you went through meant nothing."

"Hey! You don't know..." That accusation, however, nearly had him losing his cool.

"I know. Urahara explained that man's power to me," Rukia spared a look at Tsukishima. Ever since learning of the man's existence and what he did with his power, there was little to feel other than contempt and disgust. "It is indeed frightening, being able write over someone's past and take away the bonds that person has. But as long as you are alive, you can always re-forge those bonds. And you are not the type to give up your friends, are you Ichigo?"

Ichigo shook his head. No he would never give up on his friends. No matter what the situation, they were in danger and he would be there to see them to safety.

It was then sudden, frantic screaming from Orihime drew their gaze back to their friends. She and Chad looked like they were on the verge having a mental breakdown, the conflicting memories that had been implanted and those that were their own were warring with one another.

Ichigo would have acted to help but two others had already made their move, appearing behind his two friends and with a quick motion of their hands had knocked them both out. They slumped down into the waiting arms of Kisuke and his father, both supporting the unconscious teens.

"That was close." Isshin said, putting Chad over his shoulder.

"But luckily for us their state of mind made it easy for us to subdue them." Kisuke replied, carrying Orihime as if she was a newly wedded bride. "Hello Ichigo. Lovely night we are having isn't it?"

Ichigo let out a sigh of relief, knowing that least Orihime and Chad would be alright. "How long have you and my old man been in the background, waiting to make a flashy entrance?" He returned.

"You know me oh so well, but I wouldn't really call this flashy," Kisuke replied, smirking slightly as he made the declaration. His expression quickly turned serious as did his tone. "Don't worry about your sisters or classmates. Isshin and I have already put them to sleep and removed them from the area. They will be kept safe, so feel free to fight to your fullest capabilities, Ichigo."

Ichigo nodded and shared a look to his father, a silent but thorough conversation carried out between them. They both knew that there would be questions, and when this was over, he would get answers.

All that left for him to deal with was Ginjo. Turning he found the leader of Xcution standing there calmly, giving an irritated scowl as he looked towards Kisuke. Even as the shopkeeper and his father walked off Ichigo knew that Ginjo was effectively trapped, he was stuck and had no way of escaping this.

"Rukia, can you help Ishida?" Ichigo asked, not taking his eyes off Ginjo. He may try to run, if that happens he would be there to stop him. Ginjo was not going to get away after all he has done, not after everything he had put them through. None of them were.

"On it," Rukia replied, rushing over to the still wounded Ishida to give him some much-needed medical treatment.

"Am I meant to be afraid? Concerned?" Ginjo asked with an even tone as he spoke with Ichigo. "That this little change is meant to frighten me?"

"You were plenty scared before I got my powers back," Ichigo responded, stepping forward quickly and swinging his sword.

The action caught Ginjo by surprise. He barely had a moment to raise his blade and get thrown back by a wave of pure force. Ginjo hit the ground running, but still tumbled away before colliding with something solid enough to keep him from flying further than he should.

Ichigo watched as the Fullbringer rose back to his feet, his feathers ruffled but mostly unharmed.

"If that Getsuga of yours was meant to put the fear of god in me, then I am sorry to disappoint you!" Ginjo replied with a smirk on his face. "Looks like you haven't regained your Shinigami powers, all flair and no substance!"

"You really don't get it do you?" Ichigo asked him. "That was not a Getsuga Tenshou. That was just me _swinging_ Zangetsu."

"What?" Ginjo muttered as he watched Ichigo take a stance, and felt his spiritual pressure build, releasing an aura that shrouded him and rose high into the skies.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo swung down his sword, a massive wave of spiritual energy was unleashed. Ginjo felt it just brush past him, it was a narrow miss, but close enough to leave an impression on his mind.

The mansion on the other hand, was not as lucky, for it had taken the entire brunt of the attack. The three story structure was torn in half by the attack, a neat cut that that severed everything above the first floor and utterly annihilated it.

"Sorry. I missed," Ichigo said, matter-of-factly, his narrowed gaze piercing Ginjo's own wide eyes. "The next one, however, won't."

"How?" Ginjo breathed, feeling his hands shaking. "How can you have that much power? I refuse believe that Shinigami had enough power to restore yours alone."

"You're a fool to assume it was simply my own power, Kugo Ginjo," Rukia said aloud, still using kido to heal Ishida's wounds. "You think that the power you stole from Ichigo was his true power? That Fullbring you stole only held the top layer of his power. What you see now is his true power brought forth, summoned up by the combined might of the Gotei 13's Captains and Lieutenants. Their strength was placed into that specially made sword and used to restore Ichigo's Shinigami powers."

Ichigo could feel it, the power that coursed through him, not his own. Many others were present, he sensed them all, people that he called friends and those that he never would have thought to lend him his aid. But he sensed them all, their strength giving him the power needed to regain what he had lost.

"I'd ask if you'd surrender, but I don't think you'll go for that," Ichigo said, giving the man a hard stare even while keeping an eye on Tsukishima. For a man who had been nothing but condescending and mocking throughout this entire ordeal, Ichigo was pleased to see some anger from him. He could not afford to forget about him or underestimate his powers, but to know that Ginjo's subordinate was being rattled brought him some satisfaction. "Instead I'll simply say this. Use that power you stole from me. No more tricks. No more stalls. Let's finish this Ginjo."

Ginjo shook for a few seconds, whether in fear or anger, Ichigo couldn't say nor did he care. After those moments had passed, the confident smirk appeared back on his face. "Very well then. We are in the end game after all. No more stalling Kurosaki." Griping Cross of Scaffold tight, his spiritual pressure began to soar until he became engulfed in a whirlwind of spiritual energy.

When it ended, Ichigo saw Ginjo clad in a version of his stolen Fullbring, with armor plates and skeletal bones covering his body. His spiritual pressure was far higher now. "Impressive isn't it? What your Fullbring has made possible. But you should know, Xcution isn't just about me."

It took Ichigo a split second to understand what he meant, enough time for his words to come true as four figures stepped out into the open. He looked to them all and realized that he would need to deal with the rest of Xcution.

Giriko Kutsuzawa, Riruka Dokugamine, Jackie Tristan, and Yukio Hans Vorarlberna. The original members of this little organization, subordinates to Ginjo and his next opponents.

"Come on Ginjo, stop screwing around, we want our share. That was the promise, remember?" Yukio asked, sounding a little demanding and outside of his usual laid-back manners.

"Yes, we have played our part, it is time we receive our just rewards." Giriko affirmed, remaining composed as he stood there.

 _Reward?_ Ichigo looked on, transfixed by the conversation and the intent behind this. It hit him like a brick, Ginjo had originally intended for all their powers to be transferred onto him, who was to say the powers he stole could not be distributed amongst them all.

It was proven true, as Ginjo struck. Four blade strokes descended upon the four members of Xcution and engulfed them all in a whirl of spiritual power. They were changed, altered by the power he once wielded.

Clad-type Fullbring. That is what Ginjo had called it when he had described Ichigo's own Fullbring. A power that is worn by the wielder, and Ichigo agreed, and with the power given onto the members of Xcution so too had this power become grafted onto them, their powers growing more powerful and manifesting as a physical manifestation of themselves rather than a personal item.

"Marvelous! This is truly a different feeling!" Giriko shouted, clearly overjoyed by the changes.

"This is what I have been waiting for!" Jackie said, smirking as she examined the form her Dirty Boots had taken. Yukio had a somewhat manic look of glee on his face. Every one of them looked pleased with the results.

Everyone save Riruka.

 _Why? Why is she not comfortable at all with all this?_ Ichigo asked himself. He had no idea what to expect from these changes, what kind of power would be granted by them gaining his Fullbring. He did not know, for such power would have more than just a physical change to their Fullbring focus, but the power itself.

"The odds are back in our favor now," Ginjo replied, his own form now shrouded in a burst of spiritual power. "Now that we are back on even ground, let me see if you'll take this offer of surrender." He had a smirk on his face then. "Surrender or death that is."

"I like the sound of that!"

The shout came from nowhere, but it was clear and easily heard, and Ichigo knew exactly who had shouted those words. He turned and looked to the heavens, and soon enough a large set of doors appeared, floating in the sky and opening a way to a dimension not of the material universe.

Stepping from that bright void were five people, all familiar and each one of them a friend Ichigo was glad to have.

Byakuya stood there proud and regal, a new high collared haori and hairpiece. His expression remained as it always had, stoic and intent, a look as lethal as the blade he had at his side.

The ever-serious Captain of the Tenth Division, the white-haired young man that looked only a few months from being a real teenager. Toshiro's hair had grown out a bit, and he seemed to have taken after Byakuya, now wearing a scarf where the other no longer does.

Ikkaku looks as he usually does, smirking widely and holding his Zanpakuto over his shoulder, ready to leap into the fight.

His Captain was just as excited, the manic grin on his face belayed his enthusiasm to jump in and take on the strongest present. Gone were the bells in his hair, which had grown out considerably and now fell down his back. Kenpachi looked wild and ferocious, if such a thing was possible for the already terrifyingly dangerous man.

Finally, there was Renji, smirking as only he would. His hair may be longer and he had a bandana covering his tattoos, but he was the same guy he always was.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ichigo called out, smiling slightly as seeing all the familiar faces. "I thought that transferring Shinigami power to humans was a grave crime."

"You think we would leave you high and dry like that?" Renji asked, leaping down with the other Captains. "Hell, I would have come even if the Captain-Commander didn't order us to, didn't know he had such a nice side to him."

"Knock it off Abarai," Toshiro reprimanded lightly, stepping forward. "He gave the order because it was something he would have done. Maybe not in the past, not before the Winter War, but you changed all that Ichigo. That power you now wield represents more than some debt owed to you. It represents the same change that brought it about, a change that could only happen because of you."

Ichigo tightened his fist, he didn't really expect that but he did feel some relief knowing that they had his back. That after all this time that he could still count on them as allies.

"You done?"

Ichigo turned back towards Ginjo, him and Xcution were there, waiting and ready to fight. Ichigo would give him that fight. The playing field had been leveled and now everyone had a partner. He could fight the one man he wanted to see beaten and bloody.

"Good. Yukio, let's set up some rooms for our guests here," Ginjo commanded. "It's time to finish this."

* * *

Despite the numerical advantage and spiritual strength of his ally – being easily three times greater than his own strength – Tensa expected things to be going better.

In the beginning, Zangetsu had pushed through with his greater strength and inflicted damage upon the Old Man. The grin that had been on the Zanpakuto spirit's face could not be denied as he was finally letting loose against his enemy. However, the Old Man began to adapt, growing in power as the fight went on. Now it was taking the both of them to fight the Old Man, who despite being subjugated to much rougher treatment at their hands had yet to show signs of actual harm. For every hit they delivered he repaid it, for every wound given he came back at them without flinching. It made them wonder if they were making any headway.

One thing was for certain, they weren't doing as well as he was.

"Why the hell is he not going down?" Zangetsu barked, the laceration to his arm healing as he glared at the slowly approaching Old Man. "Even with you being weaker than me now, the two of us should be able to take him."

"He is being empowered by our progenitor," Tensa explained, scowling as he kept his gaze locked on the Old Man and his reflexes ready for anything. "As long as that connection remains, we cannot defeat him through brute force."

He was right to be cautious, as the Old Man was upon them and swinging his sword in a wide arc. They separated, forced apart and to contend against a much more powerful opponent.

This was the strategy the Old Man had employed against them. Both knew that the doppelganger intended to keep them separated so he could strike at them one at a time. Those few seconds they were apart was dangerous, together they could fight as one and protect themselves and each other. But there was something that caught Tensa's interest, the logic behind this strategy just didn't feel practical. Especially the way he was carrying it out.

 _He knows we are most vulnerable when we are separated; he is trying to divide us and destroy us. But why?_ Tensa asked himself.

There was little to gain by doing this, unless he was looking for a quick victory. Perhaps it was as simple as that, for Tensa felt the Old Man's desire to end this quickly. Beneath that desire was something else, and underlying concern that drove the Old Man to using this tactic and immediately attempting to kill him. The Old Man wanted him gone, targeting him every time that he and Zangetsu were forced to separate.

Many theories came to mind why this was, the idea that he was the weakest of them sounded plausible. But it wasn't about who was most vulnerable, either of them individually was weaker than the Old Man, this was different. The doppelganger didn't want him to figure out something.

Of the two spirits Tensa knew himself to be the most dangerous and legitimate threat to the doppelganger. They were one in the same, separated only by emotion and raw power, they shared a singular intellect and methodology. The Old Man was afraid of him, desperate to see him gone, Tensa had to find out what he knew.

 _What is it that has you so worried about me?_ Tensa mused, narrowing his eyes. _I need to find out what you are thinking._

A blade thrust was deflected, but a hand came forward to seize Tensa. Only to be batted aside by a kick from Zangetsu, who followed up with a slash. The Old Man was cast back, only a few steps, but far enough away for Tensa and Zangetsu to return to form and attack as one.

They worked in tandem, striking together and protecting each other from any counters. One would strike and force the Old Man onto the defensive, the second would attack his exposed flank or back. It was usually riposted as well, but their method always bore fruit in the end as they caught their enemy unprepared.

Small victories at a time, dealing just enough damage to make him stumble. But that was all they were doing at this point. Debilitating him was proving to be impossible and harming him in such a way was proving to be difficult to accomplish with the strength they possessed.

 _But I still feel the desperation in his attacks. He is worried about something_ , Tensa thought. _He realizes something I have not, something that may be the key to our victory. I just need to figure it out what that is._

* * *

Ichigo slashed, his blade meeting Ginjo's, neither gaining ground over the other as they remained within a stalemate.

This had been a battle he had been fighting ever since he had been pulled into one of Yukio's Game Rooms. The powers of the young Fullbringer had changed drastically since he absorbed the essence of his own Fullbring, now able to manifest rooms outside of his Fullbring as he wished.

And what he could create was much more intricate than before. No longer a simple blank canvas with little to show for itself; Ichigo stood under a noon sun, actual heat on his skin, while flying over a near perfect replicate of Karakura Town. _Their powers had grown significantly,_ Ichigo realized. _I can only imagine what kind of changes the other members of Xcution have underwent._

"Not so smug now!" Ginjo said, pushing Ichigo back a few paces before attacking. He raised his blade, bathing it in a bright violet light, and releasing it with a war cry. "Getsuga Tenshou!"

Ichigo raised Zangetsu, placing his hand against the blunt edge of his blade to hold it steady as the wave of spiritual pressure crashed into him. He held his ground, and with a mighty heave he was able to cleave through the energy.

Ginjo had certainly gotten a power boost, so much that Ichigo had no doubt that they were on equal footing. Even more alarming was that he could copy his techniques, even in some cases how he fought and behaved in a battle, it was scary. It almost made it seem like he was fighting another version of himself.

 _Looks like it wasn't just a power boost he got from stealing my Fullbring,_ Ichigo frowned. _He inherited the memories of my techniques._ Somehow when Ginjo took his Fullbring, some of his Shinigami powers crossed over as well. So far that was all Ginjo had used against him; copies of his own moves. If Ginjo had techniques of his own, and Ichigo was sure that he did, he had been keeping them a secret for a reason. Why he had no idea, but the sooner he ended this battle the better, a prolonged fight was proving costly. His arm was already singed from the first surprise Getsuga Ginjo had caught him with.

Luckily, he wasn't fighting alone.

"Ichigo."

He gave Ishida a momentary glance, not willing to take his eyes off Ginjo even for a second. "What's up?"

"I told you already, using that other sword would help." Ishida chided.

"Really?" Ichigo responded, giving him a bland look. "I don't have time to practice alright? Especially when I am going up against this guy. I try experimenting and he will get the drop on me."

"You will need to change tactics," Ishida counted, pushing up his glasses. "He has all your skills and techniques; fighting as you usually do will not help you. It is time to be unpredictable."

Ishida was referring to his Quincy abilities, something he had only found out about fifteen minutes ago and had no idea how to use. More than that, he had no idea how to properly use his sword because it doesn't work the same way that Zangetsu did. All the techniques he knew were from his Shinigami powers and they wouldn't work through his Quincy blade.

"Best I can use this for is a second sword," Ichigo said. Honestly, dual wielding two swords at the same time felt appealing to him for some reason. However, the nameless Quincy blade was too new. He didn't have the same connection with it yet like he did with Zangetsu. He wasn't sure he'd feel comfortable enough to use it that way in this battle.

"Honestly, have you learned nothing from watching me all this time?" Uryu asked in an exasperated tone. "A sword has never been a Quincy's primary weapon form. It has always been a bow."

Ichigo rolled his eyes at him. "Do I look like I have time to figure out how to summon a bow I probably don't even know how to use?"

"You're not listening to me. You already have it. You just can't see it," Ishida said, gripping his bow and it glowed for a moment. Ichigo watched the shape and size change, become more elongated and intricate. "A Quincy's primary weapon will always default to what is best for each individual, but a bow is always in its core. Now let me show you how it is done." Without saying another word, Ishida quickly fired off a bolt from his arrow.

Ginjo was quick to bat aside the bolt, before he blocked a stab from Ishida's Seele Schneider. Ishida already twisted around and swung up another Seele Schneider, the blade moving for Ginjo's throat. He ducked under the slice and flicked his weapon up, forcing Ishida away before he retaliated with a quick slash.

Ishida evaded easily enough with Hirenkyaku, appearing next to Ginjo and swinging for his head. Again the swing was halted by the larger sword, but Ginjo fumbled to evade the low stab to his kidney from the second blade. He evaded the strike with only a graze, before swinging his blade up towards Ishida, catching him just as Ginjo had been.

"Good swordplay, only two attacks in and you nicked me, can't say anyone has gotten that close before," Ginjo commented.

Ishida rested his hand over his shoulder, wincing as the shallow wound there, it was a minor thing and shouldn't be a problem for him. Despite the failure to deliver a wound onto the Fullbringer Ishida gave a coy smile, one that many would assume is arrogant.

"What's with the smirk? You nicked me, didn't even draw any blood, is that meant to prove something?" Ginjo asked, not very happy at seeing that insufferable grin on Ishida's face. "Come on, speak up. You think that because your arrows couldn't get me that you can wear me down with swordplay? I can tell you right now, your sword skills are subpar. Stick with fighting at a distance. You will live longer."

"Rukia was right. You are a fool," Ishida replied, never losing his grin. "This isn't my attempt to best you in a duel of skill. This is my attempt at teaching a novice how to fire."

"Fire?" Ginjo asked as he seemed to realize something just them, there was one person missing from this party. It didn't take him but a moment to find Ichigo, looking down he looked towards the Substitute as he was pointing his Quincy blade up towards the Fullbringer.

But something was amiss, the way he held it and the way the blade seemed to have split apart caught him by surprise. The pulsing energies that surged along the centre of the weapon and looked ready to be released alarmed Ginjo.

Ichigo had fired then, releasing the built up energies right towards the Fullbringer who had only enough time to blink before he was hit. The man was engulfed in an explosion of light and force that threw Ishida back, causing him to topple through the air before he corrected himself.

"I cannot believe that actually worked," Ichigo muttered in disbelief as he looked at his weapon. He had been trying to do what Ishida had suggested. Make the blade become a bow, but be something he would be comfortable with. The Quincy weapon responded by having the blade of the sword split in twain and formed what almost looked like an arrow point. It had converted itself from a sword into a usable crossbow, and a powerful one at that.

"Kurosaki! You should have solidified the bolt! It would have had made a better penetrating shot than a concussive wave." Ishida called out, gliding towards him.

Ichigo frowned in annoyance. "Give me a break. Do I look like I know how to do that?" With a flick of his hand he had shut the weapon, reforming his blade and examining it one last time before placing it back in its sheathe. "I'm glad this even worked at all. Gathering energy is the same no matter what power I am using, but you know I'm terrible at control."

"As if I need a reminder," Ishida sighed. "Maybe you should keep that at hand instead of sheathed."

Ichigo shook his head. "I'm not going to get another opportunity to use the crossbow on him like that and I'm not comfortable enough with the sword yet to use it at the same time as Zangetsu." He said as he looked up the clearing smoke. "Against someone like him, it isn't worth the risk. We do this together and we should be alright."

Looking up he found the cloud dispersing as something launched itself from it. Ichigo followed with eyes and found Ginjo standing only few feet away, disheveled and now sporting some actual injuries. The bone like armor over his body was cracked, pieces missing and shattered, and from the few scrapes across his body it showed that he was wounded.

"What is this even about anymore?" Ginjo asked, casually starting a conversation as if prompted to.

Ichigo raised a brow at the tactic, wondering if he was trying to lure him into a false sense of security.

"You can't be doing this for revenge; I am not the one that wronged you, not entirely," Ginjo said. "I know that and you ain't doing this because you want me dead, I can tell."

That was a bold statement, but not entirely true, Ichigo wondered if he gained more than just his techniques, but also his intuition when it came to crossing blades with another person. Still it made him wonder as to where Ginjo was going with this.

"Before your arrow hit I sensed something, I sensed a few things actually. The rest of Xcution are starting to fall. I can sense Tsukishima, he's dying," Ginjo spoke up, that certainly was worth knowing. "I wasn't exactly truthful with you when I told you that killing him might free your friends, it most certainly will do that. When a Fullbringer dies, all traces of their power will disappear from the world."

That was more of a relief to hear than anything else, but coming from Ginjo's mouth didn't mean much in ways of endearing himself to Ichigo.

"So back to the question then: What the hell is this all about?" Ginjo asked, raising his arms in a half-hearted shrug as if he was unable to figure out some convoluted answer. "What are you fighting for, really? What is it that is driving you to fight me with this much conviction?"

Ichigo didn't reply to his enemy, his only response was a glare.

"Answer me: Why are you fighting me? I am not the enemy. The enemy came here to wipe us out." Ginjo said, his words losing their calm as he growled. "You are fighting me on behalf of those that would use you and discard you as soon as you fulfilled your purpose. What makes you think that they wouldn't do the same after we are done here?"

Ichigo began to wonder, not about what was said by Ginjo, but why he was saying it. He had to wonder why he felt this way. What had he done or had been done to him? What turned him into the man he is today?

"It is obvious what you are doing," Ishida said. "Attempting to convince Ichigo to come over to your side, since the tables have turned you obviously do not want to contend with the both of us."

"The tables have turned? Are you kidding me?" Ginjo replied, smirking at the idea that he was at a disadvantage. "I can wipe the floor with you both easily enough, we know that. I am just trying to save Ichigo here from a very dark end to this little conflict."

"You're trying to convince me that they are going to turn on me, right? That they will be my enemy, you keep sprouting on about how they have betrayed you and that they will do the same to me. I have yet to be convinced." Ichigo replied.

"As per usual you are still in the dark about what kinds of people you are dealing with," Ginjo replied.

"Whatever hang-ups you have I don't, I know for a fact they won't betray me," Ichigo stated.

"They left you to rot!" Ginjo roared, and Ichigo could see the legitimate rage showing on his face. "You gave up everything for them and they only came back to give you that power, so you could do their dirty work for them. Just like they always wanted! Are you that stupid to think it is a coincidence that they come back here to give you that power? Right when I showed up? They said it themselves that they gave it back because of me! That they hid for so long and were out of reach and never came to you?"

It was something that Ichigo had to wonder about, given the nature of this guy he had to guess that the reason was important. Considering what he had done and was capable of, what the Shinigami were hunting him for had to be quite important.

"You really don't know do you? About the Combat Pass, about what it is truly meant for?" Ginjo said, a surprised look showed on his face. He seemed to laugh, little mirth in his chuckle as he looked around and seem to be waiting for someone else to join in the inside joke.

"What are you on about?" Ichigo asked, irritated by his manic giggling.

"Ichigo," Ishida spoke up, but he ignored the Quincy. Instead he focused his attention on Ginjo.

"You said it yourself, why would the Shinigami give a human spiritual power from a Shinigami? Their very laws prohibit them from doing so, then why do people like us get a free pass?" Ginjo started. "I bet they told you that you got it because you proved yourself to be beneficial to the Soul Society. Does that ring a bell?"

Ichigo did recall, but he didn't reply.

"Ichigo. That is a lie," Ginjo said, for a moment that surprised Ichigo. "Benefit in this case is no different if you are a danger, because either way, you still get the badge and same speech."

"Kurosaki," Ishida said, becoming more insistent.

"Did you figure out that the badge isn't a license? That its authority is all but non-existent?" Ginjo replied.

Ichigo only just now realized that the badge did not have the authority he once thought it did. Memories of instances where he attempted to show that authority had been ignored; sometimes they didn't even know what it was. He had only thought on it for a short time, questioned it, but never did he have time to figure it out.

With the Arrancar, Aizen and the Winter War on its way, he never was able to piece together those subtle clues. Even after his powers were gone, his mind focused on one thing above all else, what he had lost.

"So, the badge's purpose isn't to act as a license," Ichigo stated. "Then what is its purpose?"

Ginjo had no emotion showing as he gave his answer. "The badge's true purpose is to restrict and monitor you."

Ichigo felt his gut tighten at that declaration, his muscles going rigid as he heard that statement. _It was meant for that purpose?_

"The badge monitors you," Ginjo began to explain. "Allowing the Soul Society to know where you are and to suppress your reiatsu. Isn't it strange that you didn't notice that whenever it was with you your wild uncontrollable spiritual power was so tamed and docile?"

"Kurosaki!" Ishida insisted.

"The badge in and of itself is a surveillance device meant to observe you. However it has a secondary purpose: to absorb, analyze and control your reiatsu," Ginjo continued.

Ichigo knew he wasn't lying, many detailing becoming clear to him as he thought about it. The Badge released all that power when he turned it into his Fullbring, all that wild chaotic energy unleashed. And when he was training he heard Rukia's voice through the pass.

"Its purpose was always to control you," Ginjo continued, no smirk, no joy, no hesitation. "You didn't want to believe, did you? You saw all the signs and you blocked them off so you wouldn't have to come to the realization that the people you consider your friends had betrayed you."

Ichigo did not respond, this was something he had never even considered. He needed a moment to think, to try to figure out the reasoning as to why this was done. Who could have done this?

"Do you want to know who is responsible? One the one man behind all this and all these schemes?" Ginjo asked. "It was the same man that gave you the badge, the Captain of the Thirteenth Division, Joshiro Ukitake."

The revelation hit him like a blade through the heart. It all came rushing back to him; every conversation and word that man had said to him. It came rushing back, and soon enough it all clicked. He went still, numb as he came to a startling realization.

"It is hard isn't it, to think that the kindly man of the Thirteenth Division is the mastermind behind this entire con. To use us, control us, and execute us both when we served our purpose. Because Ichigo, you were only spared because they wanted to use you kill me." Ginjo said, a smile now forming on his lips as he believed he had gotten through to the Substitute. "We are both nothing more than pawns in their little game Ichigo!"

"Ichigo!" Ishida shouted. "Don't!"

"Shut up!" Ichigo screamed aloud. He shook in anger before grasping his forearm and raising his Zanpakuto. He was angry at himself, angry for not seeing things clearly, to accept the lies and not seek the truth.

That ended now.

"Bankai!"

The power coursed through him, pulsing with his heartbeat and sending a surge through his veins. He remembered this power, the pressure that weighed on him the first time he had used it. His bones had cracked, and his muscles had been torn, but he never denied the exhilaration he felt when he used it.

Now was no different. The euphoria of having this power back took his attention for a few moments. His body shook from the rush he felt and glared at the one who had required such might.

Ichigo's power surged around him, blanketing everything in his spiritual power. He did not bother to notice that the sun was gone nor that the city they floated over had disappeared. It didn't matter. All that mattered was the person in front of him.

"What was that?" Ginjo asked, standing there calmly. "Throwing a tantrum? Not willing to accept the facts?"

"Shut up," Ichigo said, still glaring at Ginjo.

"What? You don't want to face the truth? Still trying to escape the facts that you…" Ginjo said.

"I wasn't talking to you," Ichigo replied, glancing over his shoulder and giving Ishida a glare. "What the hell was that? 'Ichigo! Don't'? What the hell are you so worried about? What's got you so scared?"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the Quincy, did he think so little of him that as soon as Ginjo started sprouting off stuff that makes some sense that he would fall to despair? That he would doubt himself and his comrades?

"Do you honestly think I never considered what Ukitake said to me? About the badge and how he worded it?" Ichigo spoke aloud, his gaze falling back onto Ginjo. "You think I didn't know it was weird?"

"What?" Ginjo asked.

"You were right, I did suspect Ukitake of something. I thought he had some motive going on that I wasn't aware of. But like you said I pushed it aside, I buried it deep down because I didn't want to know what he planned," Ichigo admitted. "But you know what? I figured something out one day, came right off the top of my head."

He had dreaded the idea for some time, that there was more going on than he realized and more that he didn't know. Ukitake was ancient in comparison to him; one of the oldest captains and a damn smart man, one that Ichigo truthfully did not wish to make his enemy.

"For such a smart guy, who could have easily fooled me and left me none the wiser. Yet he didn't. He gave me a cryptic warning, and left me with a badge that I would soon discover had no true purpose to it," Ichigo stated, his words were firm and strong. "He wanted me to realize something was amiss, not to give me a warning or remind me who I was dealing with. He told me so that when I realized, I had a choice."

"A choice?" Ginjo scoffed incredulously. "You think that realizing what the badge was gave you a choice? All it did was put a noose around your neck. There is no choice there."

"There was a choice," Ichigo replied. "The same choice I made when I first gained this power: I chose to protect." His entire life has always floated around that singular goal, that one thing that made his life have meaning.

"I have never strove to be someone special. Never considered to get rich, get girls or even get into college. I have always wanted one thing, to protect those precious to me," Ichigo said with total conviction in his voice. "It is something I have always felt, a desire and need to safeguard those that need it. With this power I have been able to fulfill that dream."

He remembered the night Rukia had given her powers to him, to give him the strength to protect more than just those closest to him. To show him what his power could do, how he could protect his home and everyone in it. "Rukia gave me that power and showed me the path I knew that this power was meant for. And the power that everybody had come together to restore after I had lost it."

Ichigo raised his blade, the long jagged sword aimed towards Ginjo. "That is why I am going to defeat you, to protect them and everyone else from the likes of you," he declared.

He could see some disappointment flash in Ginjo's eyes, as if he was pitying him for making a choice that he saw as wrong.

"I suppose this is where all conversation breaks down. No point in putting forward words anymore," Ginjo sighed. "I offered you a few chances to surrender. To walk away, even run. But it can't be helped now, there's no other choice is left."

Ginjo raised Cross of Scaffold, and made a single utterance.

"Bankai."

Ichigo didn't react as the Fullbringer was engulfed in a whirling mass of spiritual energy, having remembered that the man was once a former Substitute Shinigami. But also having stolen his powers he likely also stole his Bankai as well, this would be their final battle.

 **Ichigo!**

The Substitute's eyes widened as he heard the shout. _Tensa?_

 **You must listen to me! Defeating Ginjo is important, but there is something you must do before you kill him,** Tensa said, urgency in his words. **Reclaim your Fullbring from him.**

 _What do you mean reclaim it?_

 **As I said, you must do this, for if you fail there will be consequences far reaching than this battle.** Tensa replied.

Ichigo trusted him enough not to go into details. Whatever was going on had Tensa on the edge, best not waste time then. _How do I do it?_

 **Take both of your blades. Make them whole as I once did with your inner Hollow. Clear your mind and you will understand how,** Tensa replied, before the presence of the Zanpakuto spirit disappeared. Ichigo felt something else, a memory and feeling that almost instinctively guided him.

Just as he had obtained the knowledge needed, the energy surrounding Ginjo vanished and Ichigo could see his enemy in his Bankai state, and Ginjo had certainly become powerful enough to call it a Bankai.

The first Substitute Shinigami's appearance had changed, much more dramatically Ichigo's ever did in Bankai. The fur on Ginjo's jacket had turned red had become enlarged, not to mention he had fur pants and black shoes. Ginjo's facial features changed as well with his hair and eyebrows turning white while his eyes had become white with red sclera and a red cross-shaped marking was now on his face. Cross of Scaffold had also went through a metamorphosis, the guard and the hilt gained a more skeletal appearance, with a rigid bone-like plate dividing the hollow portion of his sword and the blade. The most surprising to Ichigo was the fact that Ginjo now looked like had gained four wings of energy coming from his back and it gave the shape of an X behind him.

There was a malevolent smile on Ginjo's face, as if telling Ichigo how wrong he was to fight him now. "Are you ready Ichigo? Ready to end this once and for all?"

Ichigo's only response was to close his eyes and draw his Quincy blade, placing it over his Zanpakuto. He felt his power flow freely through the blade and slowly connect with his Bankai.

"Shatter..." On command, the Quincy sword began to break apart and the pieces fell on top of Tensa Zangetsu. However they did not fall off, rather they remained stuck to the blade as if they were magnets. He placed his free hand on top of the sword and opened his eyes as he declared, "...and Fuse!"

A flash of light enveloped his weapon, pulsing brightly and releasing waves of black and white energy that forced Ishida away and caused Ginjo to raise his blade to cover his eyes.

When the light ended, he saw Ichigo holding a single weapon. The Quincy blade had formed an outer white edge around Tensa Zangetsu, while the black katana remained as the inner core of this new weapon. But most strikingly, where there had once been only black chains attached to the sword and his hand, there were now a set of white chains also connected to both.

Ichigo looked on at the merged blade in his hand, the power within it greater than any that he knew, and what he would use to end this battle quickly and decisively. He looked back at Ginjo, who looked angered by this turn of events. "Let's finish this Ginjo!"

* * *

Zangetsu was having a really hard time with the Old Man ever since Tensa had decided to leave him, swearing he would be back. At first he actually enjoyed the thought of getting to attack the Old Man one-on-one, cutting loose by unleashing Bankai on the bastard. He thought he could out power him in this state.

While his initial attempts had caused damage to the Old Man, his injuries would always glow with a pale blue light and heal themselves. As they did, the Old Man became stronger with each blow. First he became even with Zangetsu and then he began to overpower him.

The corrupted Quincy Fragment had thrown him through wreckage of several broken buildings, cut deeply by his sword and had punches given to his face and stomach. And through all of it he had to listen to the Old Man speak of how weak and pathetic he was.

 _Screw him. He's the one freaking cheating in this fight_ , Zangetsu hissed. Even with the Bankai on his side he was on the losing side of the battle. _Where the hell did you run off to Tensa? Whatever you are doing, it better have been something damn good._

"I can sense your apprehension; you know what is going to happen. Back to the pit you go," The Old Man said, smirking as he strolled forward, his face having aged and his grow longer, he was starting to look like someone else.

"Pass," Zangetsu replied, glaring at the Old Man. "You've put me in there before and I've managed to get out. Only now, I will never go back to that hole."

"You have no choice in the matter," The Old Man replied, raising his sword up. "There will be no escaping when I am through with you."

Then swung it to the side and batted aside an arrow.

"A poor ambush, don't you think, even by your standards it was pitiful," The Old Man said, glancing up towards the source of the shot and to his younger half.

Zangetsu followed and glared up at Tensa. "Where the hell you been?" he yelled at his ally. "I have been cleaning this shit up for the last few minutes and suffering for it. I thought you actually had some class!"

Tensa did not respond, only leaping to his side and standing there. "I have given us a chance and if this doesn't work I have another in play. One that will ensure our victory," the Quincy manifestation replied with a smirk on his face.

"Gonna fill me in?" Zangetsu asked, curious as to what Tensa had done.

"You will know soon enough," Tensa replied just before he began to disintegrate, his form dissipating into white particles.

Those same white particles began to flow over Zangetsu, giving him a feeling he remembered quite well. _Well I never thought we'd be pulling this trick off ever again,_ Zangetsu mused.

Then he ceased to be, no longer just Zangetsu and Tensa, but something in between and at the same time different. He smirked, their minds as one and their powers feeding off one another, along with the idea and plan that Tensa had concocted.

"So this is your attempt to best me. I suspected this, but did not think you would be so desperate to use such a hideous tactic." The Old Man said, his expression betraying nothing as he looked at the newly formed Tensa Zangetsu.

"I can tell from that look on your face that you are less than pleased, and I know it ain't because of the little fusion we just pulled off," Tensa Zangetsu said, lunging forward and clashing with the Old Man.

The corrupted fragment had a scowl on his face as he parried and swung, expecting to cause injury to his opponent only for his sword to cut through air. His eyes widened at his miscalculation. _Where did he-_

His thoughts interrupted as he felt wave of spiritual power crash into him, his back burning from the attack as he skidded across the desert a meter or too before stopping the momentum. Even as he got back on to his feet, even as he felt the damage done by the attack being healed, his face had a positively murderous look on it as he stared at the fused manifestation with disdain.

"Because right now, we are a legitimate threat," Tensa Zangetsu said with confidence and conviction, pointing their sword at the Old Man. "This is why we are gonna beat you, because we won't stop until we end you!"

* * *

It was an endless barrage of clashing blades, the sound of swords colliding echoed across the skies. Both were nearly evenly matched, nearly. Ichigo could feel it, for his power may be stronger than Ginjo's he held onto something so much more potent.

They both fought for different reasons, and all power no matter how strong is only as powerful as the purpose that power is put towards.

Their blades met with another clash, sparks flying, and in the next moment they disengaged and struck again. Shallow wounds littered their bodies, cuts marring their flesh and drenching their clothes, they were equal, but as Ichigo's Zanpakuto clashed with Ginjo's Fullbring he felt the resolve within.

He felt the determination there, a deep desire to fight, but truthfully in his heart that reason was guided by shallow reasons. Hatred, anger, fear and despair. He sensed it all, all that raw emotion that had been festering so long in his soul.

How long has this been there? How many years has he endured such pain? These feelings have been wearing away at him, truly Ichigo did not think Ginjo could carry such horrible emotions. He was breaking inside, tormented by this, and unable to escape this feeling. Something Ichigo was familiar with.

"Ichigo!" Ginjo roared. "Do you think you can look at me like that? Do you think you can understand me?!"

Ichigo understood, he truly did, and that is why he could not for the life of him consider this man an enemy. Not as he thought, now that he knew, now that he understood. But he gave no response, only readying for the next attack, which came at him as a wave of force. A bright violent ray, almost like a Cero, came flying towards him.

Ichigo did nothing but raise his hand, catching it as he was consumed the wave. He felt it wash over him; there was no strength behind it, not when matching against his own. It was time to end this, to finish this battle with a final strike, he lunged forward and swung.

Ginjo was caught off guard, Tensa Zangetsu slashing through his chest with little resistance and sending the Fullbringer falling back to the earth. Ichigo followed, both of them dropping towards the ground and colliding with a thundering boom, not a second later did their blades collide once more. Both putting their strength towards overpowering the other, with a heave Ichigo forced themselves apart.

As Ginjo made for a wide slash Ichigo made for a stab, the strike was precise and made two deep cuts. The first severed Ginjo's blade in two, leaving half of it to fly free, and the second cut pierced right through his chest.

Ginjo let out a blood-curdling cry as he collapsed to the ground, his weapon falling free from his hand. On his knees and with no strength left, the only thing keeping him upright was the blade through his breast, held there by Ichigo.

"I am sorry Ginjo," Ichigo said, sincere with his words as he grasped his Zanpakuto with both hands. "But I need to take back my Fullbring."

His blade pulsed, the entire weapon glowing a bright light as it did its work. Soon the Fullbring that shrouded Ginjo began to strip away, flowing like liquid away from him and back to its original master. Ichigo paid little attention to this, only keeping his eyes on the wounded and dying Fullbringer who had not the strength to do anything else.

With his Fullbring returned Ichigo grasped the man's shoulder, pulling his blade free and keeping him steady. Ginjo let out a wheeze as he tried to breathe, his lung had likely been punctured. Blood flowed from his mouth as he tried to speak.

"…This is it then? This is how I die?" Ginjo asked, having enough strength to look up.

Ichigo could see the eyes of the man he had fought; they were the same as always. But now he had noticed what they held, something he had no realized until now, he was tired. Weary of all the misery that his life had gone through, a life that more than likely had more hardships than even Ichigo himself did not believe he could suffer through and not be a changed man.

"Had we been different… had you come before me… would it have been different?" Ginjo asked, there was actual wonder in his eyes and he thought about it.

Ichigo truly could not help but pity him. There was pain in his heart to think that this man had suffered the way he did. Ichigo could not doubt that Ginjo believed that he deserved revenge against the Shinigami, to make them pay for their slights against him. Claiming to know who is right and wrong here is pointless, the choices had already been made.

Ichigo understood why Ginjo felt the way he did, he had sensed it when their weapons clashed, and he did not doubt that the reason he fought was for his own desire. But Ichigo sensed so much more. Beyond revenge and even beyond a desire to become more powerful; a singular desire for peace, to put to rest these warring emotions and finally be free of them.

"Had we stood in opposite places, would what I see be different from you? Would you… have become like me?" Ginjo asked.

"No," Ichigo replied, solemnly holding onto the Fullbringer's shoulder, keeping him steady as he gave his response. "Even if I came first, I don't believe things would have changed."

Ginjo actually smirked at that, laughing shallowly as he heard it, even as blood spilled from his mouth the smile on his face was genuine. He looked almost impressed.

"Had I been you…" Ginjo said. "I would have liked to have that strength… to be free from that burden of doubt… to have a heart that strong… what would my life be?"

Ichigo did not respond.

"I wonder… I wonder… I…" Ginjo said, drifting away and finally leaving this world entirely.

Ichigo held him there for a moment, and with a sigh he lay him down against the ground. This was an end he knew that was coming, one that would end in his death. Still, to think mercy like that was needed; to take his life so that he could have peace was not something he thought to do.

 _It is the only thing I could do I guess, from one Substitute to another,_ Ichigo mused as he undid the fusing of his combined blade, which separated into Tensa Zangetsu and the Quincy blade. _I just wish it didn't have to end like-_

The silent contemplation was broken when he felt something approach him from behind, a presence that made the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He turned quickly, eyes widening as he saw Tsukishima rushing towards him with his sword raised to strike.

Ichigo didn't expect that, it took him longer than a moment to react and prepare to defend himself, but in that time someone else had already come to his defense. Rukia leaped in front of him, using her body as a shield to protect him, his eyes widened as the sword was coming down. The intent was clear, cleave through her and then move onto him.

"Rukia!" Ichigo shouted, just as a flash of light burst from her chest, the next second someone else was in front of Rukia and taking the blow in her place.

Ichigo caught her, looking up in surprise at the one who had come to Rukia's rescue.

* * *

"Riruka?" Tsukishima asked, his reckless charge halted for a moment as his blade sunk into Riruka's shoulder.

"That wasn't non-lethal. You actually attacked with the intent of killing him," Riruka said, looking pale as she struggled to stay standing with a blade lodged in her shoulder.

Tsukishima was momentarily halted, surprised that she would bar his path. Why had she stepped in his way to stop him from killing the one who had murdered Ginjo? Did she have no guilt over the passing of the one that had brought them together.

"Move!" Tsukishima yelled, ripping his blade free.

Riruka had fallen as his Fullbring came loose; his gaze fell on the motionless body of Ginjo. Bloody and pale, a far cry from the powerful and mighty individual that had rescued and raised him in his youth. How could this have happened? How could it be that they failed?

"Ginjo! Don't die!" Tsukishima screamed out. "You can't die! We still need to finish this! We have to finish what you started!"

"Enough you fool!" Riruka screamed. "Don't you get it! This plan he constructed was always going to fail! Six humans against all the Shinigami of Soul Society? Are you kidding me?"

Tsukishima looked at her, momentarily unable to speak; even with the hole through his chest he still felt something else seize his breath.

"Ginjo saved us all from terrible fates. He saved us and brought us all together, all those years ago. But what he was leading us towards would have been the end of us all, he would have shattered the only thing in the world that he could truly call his own, he knew that. In the end, Ichigo saved him, he saved us all." Riruka said, grasping her shoulder. "Despite all he wanted, all he fought for, he wanted it to end. Ichigo did that for him, he gave him peace."

"Peace... _**peace?!**_ " Tsukishima looked at his fellow Fullbringer in disgust and hatred. "You little bitch! You were absolutely _nothing_ without Ginjo! None of you were worth a damn! He was worth more than anyone! Yet you think that your lives are worth saving!"

They had been brought together for a single purpose, one given to them by the man that lay dead at the feet of the man she now protects. Ginjo had united them all, brought them together and made them all into a family. Yet she thinks that they mattered? They lived because of him, were pulled from the despair of their past lives and given greater purpose. And she spits on that destiny by saying Ginjo was saved.

"He did not save him; he murdered the one person that you should have died for!" He raised his sword intending to take off Riruka's head. "If you wanted to take the blow for him then so be it! I'll kill you with the same intent as I plan for Kurosaki!"

Yet he was unable to fulfill his promise, something striking his chest and throwing him off his feet. He felt motionless for a few moments before he connected with a tree, his body flared with pain before he went numb from the neck down. He couldn't even feel his legs now, everything felt cold.

"Dammit… dammit…" Tsukishima cursed, looking up to the one that had rendered him so weak.

Ichigo was there, cradling that Shinigami in his arms and holding that Quincy blade, it pulsed as it slammed shut. He laid the Shinigami down, quick to move forward and catch Riruka as she herself succumbed to her wounds and passed out.

"You alright Rukia?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, a little light headed," she replied, a hand to her head as if to clear the ringing. She saw Ichigo walking over to her with Riruka, laying the young woman on the ground.

"Take care of her for a bit," Ichigo asked as he sheathed the Quincy blade on his back while picking up Tensa Zangetsu from the ground. He turned his attention then towards Tsukishima. "I need to handle this."

Tsukishima growled as Ichigo moved towards him, standing right at his feet and looking down at him with a solemn expression. He would dare give him such a look? Showing actual pity on him? What makes him think that they want such a thing?

"Always the way, always how it goes." Tsukishima said. "The strong tread on the weak, leaving them to rot and suffer as the mighty roam free and unmolested by the cruelty of the world."

How funny it was, that they were back here again when Ginjo was gone. Truly he had no idea what to do anymore, with Ginjo gone he had no idea where to proceed from here, to seek revenge? He had no way to do it, he was dying and there was no way he could stop it.

So what could he do but spit at the feet of the man who had killed the only person who had given their lives meaning.

"We are not that different, we both were saved by Shinigami. You by Rukia Kuchiki and myself by Ginjo. Both of us became strong because of them, they raised us up and out of weakness and made us great." Tsukishima said. "But like always, you think you are righteous. But you won't make me believe in your ideals. 'The weak believe what is forced onto them. While the strong, what they wish to believe, they force it to be real.'I was weak once, like all the others of Xcution."

They had all been weak, broken and battered by a world where they held no power and say. Each of them had such great gifts, forged in tragedy brought about by those that did not wish goodwill onto them or by circumstances out of their control. They had all been broken, their lives torn apart and reduced to an existence filled with nothing.

"You never knew what it was like to be broken, to have everything torn away from you. Each of us became what we are, ours power became what they are because of what we endured, of what we suffered at the hands of our betters. Of people we thought would value us, protect us, and love is." Tsukishima said, remembering a family that he was never welcome in, a family that abandoned him.

But the others suffered as well, all of them were forged in tragedy, by the hands of others and by themselves they suffered in silence and unable to feel the warmth of anyone.

Giriko killed his wife, his regret and despair cost him more than his beloved. His eye burnt from his skull for such a mistake, a toll for showing weakness when none was required.

Jackie lost her family, all murdered and left to rot in a hot shed on a patch of deserted ground. Her boots stained in blood, a symbol of her weakness and inability to do anything to save them or wipe away those haunting memories.

Yukio, rich and wealthy, someone that would have everything and yet at the same time nothing. Escaping into his own little worlds to be away from parents that expected so much of him and yet gave him nothing in return.

Riruka, so desperate to hold onto what she loves and cherishes in those little houses. Nothing more than a desperate attempt to not lose anything else, to save what she can before it is taken from her again.

But what of Ichigo? What is his vice? What is his pain? There is none.

"You lived a life filled with love and care. A hand raised to you would caress your cheek rather than strike it, you would be given comfort if you cried rather than scolded for such weakness, where you doubted yourself they would give you hope where I was never given such kindness," Tsukishima growled. "We were all abandoned by society, we were weak in the eyes of ourselves or others, but with Ginjo we had strength and power. He gave us the strength to stand above those that kept us in the mud, that forbade us from rising higher."

He looked up, that same look not leaving the Shinigami's face.

"Ginjo gave us everything, purpose and meaning to who we are, and without him we are lost now. For what can we do without him? Against the Soul Society and the Shinigami?" Tsukishima asked.

"Ginjo was a lot of things, but the one thing he did _right_ was protect you all," Ichigo said, looking down at Tsukishima without anger or disdain. "The strong should always protect the weak. Ginjo did that, he gave you all that strength to carry on and become something more. But he grew weak, not because he valued you and cared for you. He grew weak because he no longer wished to protect. The weak seek revenge, the truest attribute of strength is forgiveness."

Tsukishima laughed at the notion. "And do you forgive him, Ichigo? Can you forgive him for all that he has done?"

Ichigo shook his head. "I understand why he did what he did, why he felt that way. I do not agree, and I cannot forgive him. Not yet. But I know that he despaired for what he had become. How weak it made his heart, and how cold it made him, and how afraid he was of what he was becoming."

"How can you be so certain of that?" Tsukishima said, he never suspected such a thing, he knew Ginjo well and this was not something he thought was possible.

"Because his life has always been that way," Ichigo answered. "For so long he has been downtrodden and looked upon as weak; but when he first gained his Shinigami powers he saw a chance to escape from that weakness."

"But the Shinigami were there, watching him, weakening him, studying him. He had that power, yet he was still beneath someone, someone who wasn't free as he thought, shackled to a world he thought would set him free," Ichigo continued. "Ginjo misjudged them, thought that they were the same as those that had put him down as a normal human, but the truth is they weren't like that."

Tsukishima snorted, the actual act causing him to choke slightly. "You think they truly are better?"

"I know them, and Ginjo certainly didn't. He saw only the faces of those that wronged him, in place of the people who gave him a chance to prove he was worthy. He had the power, and I know he had the will to do right, but he could never let go of his past and those grudges," Ichigo stated. "I understand why he did what he did. Do you?"

Tsukishima didn't answer, he couldn't answer. How could Ichigo know so much about his past? Tsukishima knew enough, just enough for him to understand the motives, but what Ichigo was telling him showed a side that none knew about their great leader. "Does it matter now? He is dead."

"Maybe, but do you know why he brought you all together?" Ichigo asked. "He may have needed soldiers, and you were faithful as such, but do you think that maybe there is more to being part of Xcution than that?"

Tsukishima thought for a moment, but he did not have a chance to answer. He heard a rustle to his right, with what strength he had left he turned to see someone step into the open. He felt some surprise that he was still here, let alone alive.

Moe Shishigawara was not someone he expected to remain, after all Ginjo has ordered Tsukishima to kill him. He was a pawn after all, to be used and discarded later, for all his worth he was not someone that was truly valued. So the tables had turned, Moe more than likely knew the truth now and would seek revenge.

He saw it, as the man approached, stopping just near him. Tsukishima expected Moe to crush his skull with a single punch from Jackpot Knuckle.

Instead something happened that he couldn't believe.

Moe turned away from him and looked at Ichigo dead in the eyes as he spoke. "I'm taking bro home now."

 _Wh-what?_ Tsukishima did not know what to expect, he thought his hearing was bad, but it sounded like Moe was talking about him. He was proven right when he was lifted off the ground and carried across the young man's back.

"You gonna stop me?" Moe asked.

Ichigo shook his head. "No. Get home safe kid," he replied, turning away to walk back to Rukia and Riruka. Moe did not wait a moment longer than Ichigo, turning and carrying Tsukishima away.

"Come on bro, let's get you patched up, and maybe get something to eat," Moe said simply.

"Why…?" Tsukishima asked, unable to fathom this action his former comrade was taking.

"You want to know why I am carrying you home? Because you are my bro. You're the strongest guy I know, and I ain't turning my back on you," Moe replied, his words surprising sincere as he said it. "I thought about it though, but I couldn't do it. So don't die on me alright, stay alive until I can patch you up."

Tsukishima did not understand, even after all that he had gone through and endured and learned he still could not fathom this scenario. But it was familiar to him, it reminded him of when he was found by Ginjo, that through all the pain and loss. It was the two of them, neither of them alone.

 _Forgiveness,_ Tsukishima mused. Yes that was what Ichigo said. Perhaps this is what he was talking about, perhaps this is what Ginjo and Ichigo truly wanted. To put aside grudges and treachery for the sake of friendship. A concept that he could never understand, not until this very moment.

"Thank you… Moe," Tsukishima said, he felt his eyes grow heavy, and in spite of knowing what is coming, he was glad to not be alone.

* * *

Ichigo watched Moe and Tsukishima disappear in the trees, as they departed Ichigo could sense that the latter was also fading away. Had he been a sentimental man or even poetic he would think that it was ironic, as he disappeared from view he was soon to disappear from this world as well.

Whatever grief and anguish Tsukishima caused, it would be undone with his death. There was no point in worrying about that anymore, concerned with him dying or seeing to his end. He had started this fight out of anger and vengeance, and now with some clarity he found that his anger was starting to cool.

Ichigo had not forgiven him or Ginjo for their actions, but like all those who had suffered and been unable to escape that pain deserved some respite. If death gave it to him, then Ichigo hoped that it would be enough.

 _This has been one messed up day,_ he mused as he shook his head. Barely an hour ago, he was ready to murder the guy and now here he was, giving him his best wishes on his trip to the afterlife. Putting it out of his mind he walked back to Rukia, who was finishing up treating Riruka. "How is she?"

"I've manage to stop the worst of it, but she will need to get some rest, she's lost a lot of blood," Rukia replied. "We should take her to the Shoten."

"Good. Really don't feel like staying out here much longer," Ichigo said, glancing around at the destroyed clearing and even seeing a glimpse of the partially intact mansion he had bifurcated. "We'll take her back to Urahara so we can…"

He had only just noticed it; something was missing from the little scene. He narrowed his eyes are he looked at the disturbed patch of earth and noticed several footprints in the earth.

"Ichigo? What's wrong?" Rukia asked.

Ichigo looked at her dead in the eyes. "Rukia. Where is Ginjo's body?" His inquiry was not met with a response, but the dipping of her head gave him a clear idea that she knew. "Unless he somehow turned into a zombie and wandered off, I want to know. Where is his body?"

"Already on its way back to Soul Society, at the order of the Captain Commander."

Ichigo and Rukia turned to the speaker and he saw Rukia gave a startled gasp as her brother approached. Whereas all the other Shinigami that had come through the doorway to help deal with Xcution had left, Byakuya had remained.

"What the hell for? He's dead. He isn't a threat anymore to Soul Society!" Ichigo barked. Ginjo had been against the Gotei for years, for reasons that he justified. Yet if the Gotei continued to persecute him for his crimes into the next life, then the cycle was never going to end.

Did they not know that? Did they not care that they were only just reinforcing the same hatred the first Substitute felt towards the Shinigami?

Byakuya narrowed his eyes at Ichigo. "You are still too naive. Your experience with Kugo Ginjo was limited. He has a list of crimes against the Shinigami that stretches across decades. Death is not the end of it, not according to the Captain Commander. If you wish to challenge his ruling, you will have to speak to him in person. But that will have to wait. There is still unfinished business that must be attended to."

"Unfinished business?" Rukia asked confused. "Brother, I don't understand. Ginjo is dead, his group is dismantled and Ichigo made his choice, like I always knew he would. What else is there?"

"All of what you said is true, Rukia," Byakuya agreed. "However, have you already forgotten what he did _before_ you restored his powers?"

Ichigo felt the Captain's gaze fall upon him. "I had no idea I even had these Quincy powers. I have no idea how it's even possible."

"And I believe you. The fact remains that Quincy and Shinigami don't mix baring the exception of your friend," Byakuya looked over to Ishida for a moment before returning his gaze to Ichigo. "What you did is something that cannot be kept secret from the Captain-Commander. There must be answers as to why this is possible."

Ichigo agreed. He had a moment to think now, to consider and realize that maybe he should have been asking these questions sooner. He had been given a chance to once, seventeen months ago, but instead he sat on his hands and decided to wait.

"Yeah," Ichigo said, turning around and picking up Riruka. "And I know exactly who has them."

There was only one person who knows about all this, the only person who could know as to why he had these powers.

His Father.


	4. All Roads Lead Back to the Past

**Author's Notes: I am grateful for the support that I am getting for this story as well as your responses. I encourage you to leave reviews as I like to see what my readers are thinking about the direction the story is going.**

 **I have some good news and bad news to report. The good news is that the final chapter of the first arc of this story will posted up before the end of the year. The bad news, I don't have nearly enough chapters written up to post at the rate that I have been going. So it won't be until sometime in 2019 that I will be able to regularly update but at least you will learn the meaning behind the story's title before year's end.**

 **Somehow I feel the ending of this chapter is going to spike controversy but I hope it will be a good thing.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

 **The Awful Truth**

 **Chapter 4: All Roads Lead Back to the Past**

Tensa Zangetsu parried, followed with his counter, and was blocked. They were on even footing now, good.

Ever since Ichigo had released his Bankai, allowing for the deepest reserves of his power to flow through them, and with their merger, they were finally as match for the doppelganger. Even as the slowly aging replica of Zangetsu continued to grow in power, feeding from a source outside of Ichigo's soul, they were more than able to match him.

"You are starting to struggle, good," Tensa Zangetsu said, breaking the deadlock and swinging hard.

His strike was able to force the Old Man back a step, a momentary slip up of his footing and something Tensa Zangetsu pounced on. He slashed and attacked with all he had, moving in close and never letting a moment be wasted.

The Old Man was kept off balance, unable to balance his footing or correct his form, and within half a dozen slashes Tensa Zangetsu landed his first injury. A shallow cut to the shoulder, minor and only worse than a paper cut, but it proved that of them both he had the upper hand now. Some glee was felt in his heart, likely a sensation brought about by the hollow portion of their fusion, but the more pragmatic side of himself did not waste time with such a small victory. He wanted to make this man bleed.

"I think that it is far from what you deserve however, but perhaps this is the beginning of a very poetic punishment," Tensa Zangetsu said, slashing again and locked blades again with the Old Man.

"Heh," the Old Man chuckled, clearly amused and most certain not faking it. "A nick along the shoulder? You truly are pathetic if you feel such a minor inconvenience is a sign that you are winning."

"The next few hundred will change your mind, does the saying: Death by a thousand cuts mean anything to you?" Tensa Zangetsu asked.

They disengaged from one another, the Old Man taking to the high ground as he swung his sword and formed a bow in the air. Tensa Zangetsu responded with a much faster attack, a nameless Getsuga flew free from his blade and collided with the arrow. The explosion obscured their visions of one another, and Tensa Zangetsu used it to his advantage.

He threw his Zanpakuto through the cloud, having sensed exactly where the Old Man was. He held onto the white chain still connected to the pommel of the handle, the links growing even as the distance between wielder and weapon grew.

He moved around the cloud, running along and parallel to his own blade from the ground, and as he passed by it he saw the Old Man. Still in the air and having leaned to the side to avoid the blade, Tensa Zangetsu leaped towards his sword and grasped it. Looking back he pulled tightly on his blade and the chain in his hand, the length of links tugging on the Old Man and momentarily trapping him.

Tensa Zangetsu smirked, tugging on the chain hard he twirled the Old Man in the air and slammed him into the side of a ruined skyscraper. The collision was a hard hit, but Tensa quickly used the chain to catapult himself towards the stunned Old Man and with a dropkick. Both of them ploughed through the building, tearing through its insides before the Old Man was left dazed in the air.

Tensa Zangetsu continued with the swing of the chain and sent the Old Man crashing into the ground, landing hard in the rubble of some fallen buildings.

"How's that for a minor inconvenience?" Tensa Zangetsu barked.

Although he had to quickly react when something came flying from the cloud, a massive arrow. He batted it aside easily enough, but like a reenactment where the roles had been switched, the Old Man appeared and got the drop on him. The chain he had used to throw the Old Man around like a rag doll was now around his own neck, several loops around his throat and dragging him backwards.

Tensa Zangetsu choked as his back slammed into the edge of a building, right along a precipice where the Old Man was now dangling lamely as pressing his feet on the underside of the stone to keep Tensa Zangetsu trapped. He felt the chains dig into his throat, pulled painful against his trachea that he couldn't even breathe.

"That was a little better, but like always you got ahead of yourself. If this was the gamble you intended to win, then I am disappointed," the Old Man sneered.

Tensa Zangetsu glanced to the side, seeing the blade just out of his peripheral and likely ready to be swung around to take his head off. Blut Vene or Heirro, there was no way he was going to be surviving what was coming next, that was for damn sure. He needed to escape.

"Farewell you foolish children," the Old Man said with that dark smile on his face. "Make you find peace—"

The chains snapped, for a moment Tensa Zangetsu was so surprised that he didn't actually react to the fact he could breathe again. It was mostly a surprise because he wasn't the one who had freed himself, and as he turned around to look at the surprised Old Man that was tumbling downwards through the air, the remains of the chains once around his throat now falling beside him.

The Old Man had turned to see something, and Tensa Zangetsu looked to just see a dark red arrow closing in on the doppelganger. Who raised his sword and blocked it, but as the arrow exploded the energy quickly expanded outwards and touched the many broken links of the chain.

Soon enough those formally broken chains now reformed and tightened around the airborne Old Man, who could do nothing for the moment but look on in surprise he had been detained.

Tensa Zangetsu smirked. _Finally, my gambit is coming to fruition._ He leaped down and towards the chained Quincy, blade sinking into the man's chest and eliciting a grunt of pain from him. He was a tough one, even a wound like that would not be the end of him so easily.

The Old Man broke from his restraints, rising up and grasping the blade still lodged in his breast and holding it there as he made an attempt to skewer the one who wounded him. But the strike had to be diverted, to slash apart another arrow, cutting the bolt perfectly in twain.

Then those two same parts quickly formed an interlocking bracer around the doppelganger's wrist and then formed a chain to the nearby wall. Trapping Quincy there and unable to swing his sword again, giving Tensa Zangetsu the perfect chance to deliver another strike.

Ripping the blade from his chest he swung again, digging deep into the Quincy's chest and sending him flying back into the wall. He was certainly feeling the damage now, he was wheezing ever so slightly as he maintained an air of calm. His gaze narrowing as he tried to figure out a reason for this sudden change in the battle.

"You seem to be struggling, unable to comprehend what is happening. Shall I explain it to you?" Tensa Zangetsu spoke aloud. "I know what it is you feared I would do. You believed that I would harness the same conduit of energy you used to empower yourself. You actually feared I would harness the same power that you feed on now."

"But you didn't," the Old Man growled, "I can tell you never made such a move."

"Because of the risk, opening up that power would leave me vulnerable to being taken by Yhwach. If that were to happen I would more than likely stop attempting to save Ichigo," Tensa Zangetsu replied. "But what you did not expect was for me to do something else."

"What are you talking about?" the Old Man demanded, his gaze smoldering.

"Stealing power would never work, not with how dangerous it was, but I could still draw on it and bring something through. You see, I discovered something you did not, a way to bring forth more than just power through the connection. But also fragments," Tensa Zangetsu replied, looking over his shoulder towards the person who had finally materialized inside Ichigo's Inner World. "I just needed time, to keep your attention while she manifested."

"She?" the Old Man asked.

Tensa looked to the woman as she approached, red cloak draped over her shoulders and a large black bow in her hand. Beneath the red cloak was armor, reminiscent to the bone-like protection Ichigo once wielded as part of his Fullbring. That had been the gestalt of forming this being, the Fullbring had been born and created from the Hollow energies of Zangetsu, and with that he had been able to create an entirely separate being from either of them.

"Tell me Yhwach," the woman spoke, narrowing her eyes glaring at the Old Man from beneath her hood. "What could you possibly know about true peace, when all you have ever done is deny it to the world?"

For the first time, Tensa Zangetsu saw true surprise upon his corrupted self's face. "You? How can you be here?" the Old Man finally asked, his voice betraying the shock behind it. "It should not be possible."

"And yet here I am," the woman replied, her intense gaze never lessening. "Tensa opened the door and I ran right through it! I know what you plan to do to Ichigo and I will not allow it!"

The woman raised her bow, and drew back the bow string, pulsating with black red spiritual energy. "I will not allow you to harm him Yhwach! I will protect Ichigo! You will never have him! This I vow!"

She let the arrow fly, this time aimed directly for the doppelgangers heart.

* * *

The Shoten was abuzz with activity, as many were inside its cramped and dusty confines. Most of the occupants were hovering around from room to room, taking care of the few that were being tended to in the back room.

But the few that were sleeping were outnumbered by the many that were still awake, who restlessly hovered in place with little to do. Odd considering the hour, well past midnight and in the early hours of the morning, it was not a time to be so energized. But the topic of discussion was beginning to set everyone on edge, tempers were being tested and secrets were being forced to light.

Secrets that only one person deserved to know about.

"Back off Kuchiki, this isn't your problem, so stop butting into business that isn't yours," Isshin said, giving the Noble an annoyed glare.

Isshin had worked with the guy over twenty years ago, but it had been a rare and sporadic set of meetings he had with the Nobleman. Captains rarely met outside of Captain meetings, barring a select few having friendships, but Isshin did not really hang out with any of them. Most were too uptight, and his antics often annoyed them as much as it annoyed his own family.

But what he did remember about Byakuya Kuchiki was how much of a hard-ass he was, and from the sounds of it he still sounded like it. No matter how much people say otherwise.

"This is a matter that concerns the entire Gotei," Byakuya stated. "Do you think that something like this would be overlooked? I can assure you Uryu Ishida was overlooked, but only so much. Ichigo on the other hand would be under a lot more scrutiny, especially given the circumstances."

Isshin didn't need to hear him say it aloud; being a noble he had been through the class on subtle hints as to what he was referring to.

Basically the idea of there being a larger population of Quincy present in the World of the Living was likely an issue. It was a concern he first had when he learned Masaki was a Quincy, although it had passed through his mind for a brief second before he was grateful she was able to kill that Hollow.

But the bigger problem was that his son was a Quincy Hybrid, mingling like that was a completely unheard of concept. Because while conception between two species may be possible, the simple truth was that it was generally impossible for a spirit to impregnate or get impregnated by a living being.

It also implicated Urahara as he helped Isshin while he was in the World of the Living. Meaning that the Shopkeeper was also in the firing line, there was still some concern regarding his decision to remain outside the influence of the Gotei 13. Isshin could understand that he supposed, even he didn't know all the plans the former Captain had in store for the future.

"Even so this is a matter for me to handle, you don't see me barging into your home and demanding I ask how you met your wife," Isshin replied, that has gotten him a frosty stare from Kuchiki, but he was not going to change his stance. "You can ask me as many times as I want, but my answer is not going to change."

"No."

That single utterance broke some of the tension in the room, and Isshin looked to his son who was staring at him with a serious frown. There was some tension of his neck, his eyes darted slightly as if he was thinking on something and Isshin could tell that he needed to know.

"I know I said that you could me when you were ready. It has been seventeen months and that time never came," Ichigo said, examining his Quincy sword in his hand. His gaze seemed to become steadier before he looked right back at him. "I can't wait any longer, not after night."

Isshin wanted to tell him he could ask, that they could finally have the discussion he had been waiting to give him for some time but he had wanted it to be done between the two of them only.

His son however did not want to give him that choice. "This isn't a secret anymore and I am not going to be hiding in the shadows with this. They want to know, you tell them," Ichigo declared, and as much as Isshin wanted to argue he couldn't.

Making Ichigo go back on his word was impossible, whatever reason he had for suggestion it made sense only to him and Isshin knew that it was pointless to try and change his mind. There was no fault in his reasoning to inform the others. Rukia was a trusted friend, Byakuya was someone that Ichigo trusted as well and in turn was trusted by him and Uryu... well maybe telling him this would finally get Ryuken to stop being such a horrible parent.

 _Maybe, but not holding my breath,_ Isshin mused as he scratched the back of his head. "I guess if they want to listen I have no choice but to talk."

"Good. I would hate having to retell this to them when we are done," Ichigo replied, somehow keeping that serious frown in spite of the likely stupid reasoning.

"That is the reason, I had thought you had a better reason than that you idiot," Isshin remarked, before he sighed. "Take a seat."

They did so, only Urahara staying near the doorway to keep an eye on their unconscious guests.

"For me, this all started twenty-two years ago back when I was still the Captain of the Tenth Division. You probably already figured this out by now but I am actually from the Shiba Clan, I was the Clan head." Isshin said, recalling his life before he came to the World of the Living, he felt a lot younger then.

He recalled the time he had been a Captain, he had actually been one for about three decades before he had met Masaki. Before that he had running the Clan, keeping it in one piece after his nephew had recently died.

Hard times for everyone, but he did not deny that there was a great deal of simplicity in his life during that time.

"Never wanted the responsibility though, preferred to laze around and maybe chase girls. I still was young back then, wanted to do other things than run the clan that was falling apart or the Division that was probably being better led by my Third Seat. Although my damn Lieutenant always busted my chops whenever I wasn't doing anything, or made a comment on her boobs." Isshin said, shaking his head as the memories.

It had felt like a lifetime ago, sneaking away from the Division to take naps or go out to have some fun by himself. After getting away from the compound back at the Clan's estate he had thought that his worries were over, that he could finally relax and not have to worry about anything for the next few decades.

Rangiku was such a pain in the ass back then, wanting him to take his job seriously as a Captain and Clan Head. Always chasing after him and trying to force him to do his work, along with hers, never giving him a moments rest. All the while having those magnificent breasts of her on display, and getting mad when he mentioned them. Kind of hypocritical if you think about it.

A cough drew his attention; he looked to see his son giving him a deadpan look, one that all but said 'get to the point already'. It was a sentiment shared with the rest of the occupants around the table, even the ever stoic Byakuya appeared less than enthused with his storytelling.

"Fine," Isshin sighed, deciding it would be better to simply get to the heart of the matter. "Anyway, I was the Captain of the Tenth, and recently had received a report about two deceased Shinigami."

He recalled it easily enough; Toshiro had reported it to him while he was going over some of the Division's documents. Two Shinigami had died the previous month, with three others the month before that, and recent reports of unknown spiritual fluctuations in the World of the Living in Naruki City.

Little was known, no witnesses on the incidents as to what attacked the Shinigami but a Hollow was suspected. A powerful one at that to kill give Shinigami over three months, especially if one was an Officer.

"I took it upon myself to go and investigate," Isshin continued, leaving out the fact that he had done it more of a way to get out of paperwork that Rangiku was trying to force him to do. "When I arrived, I found the local Shinigami patrolling Naruki City and tried to hunt this Hollow down."

He paused, allowing himself to lose any sense of jovialness in his expression as this part, he was deadly serious about. "But I underestimated what kind of Hollow it was." To say the least. He had fought hollows before and what he faced there was no Hollow. It wasn't even an Arrancar, it was something else entirely, almost felt like he had been fighting another Shinigami rather than some Hollow.

"Didn't know what it was at first, I lured it in with my spiritual pressure and it killed the two guys I had spoken with. Poor bastards never stood a chance, not against that thing," Isshin said, shaking his head as he recalled the meeting between him and that thing.

"I recall you mentioning it was a Menos-Class hollow in your debriefing," Byakuya stated.

"It was, might have even been a Vasto Lorde for all I knew, had the power of one if I had to guess. Lucky I survived against it. It wasn't like any normal hollow though, remember what else I said during that meeting?" Isshin asked, looking to Byakuya.

"Black skinned, Hollow hole filled with some sort of mass, fought uncharacteristically like a Shinigami," Byakuya stated.

"Spot on," Isshin nodded, recalling the grueling fight against that thing. "But that thing was far from normal."

"You think it was one of Aizen's experiments?" Ichigo asked.

"More than likely," Isshin replied, recalling many other little facts that happened during that fight. He had struggled against that thing, and when casualties started to pile up as wayward Shinigami got between him and the Hollow. Before anyone else could get caught in the crossfire he had been forced to use his Shikai to fight it. There was even the idea of using Bankai to finish it off, but that had been forced from his hands after he had been wounded. The Hollow had never touched him, but he had been cut by someone he did not see.

The wound had debilitated him, just enough so that he couldn't use his Bankai. That left him wounded and unable to use his trump card, along with having people out there he couldn't see that could attack at any moment.

It was a near even match, Isshin recalled several wounds he had taken during the scuffle and he had been able to deal a single debilitating strike. Lopping off its arm had been the high point in that fight, as it was the only time he had been able to do some actual damage to the thing.

Sad to say the loss of its limb did little to hamper its fighting ability. If anything, it seemed to only make it more aggressive.

"I struggled against it, took a real beating and even with it missing an arm it didn't even faze it. I was on a downward slope, slowly losing ground against it, and likely would have kicked the bucket had it not been for your mother." Isshin said, smiling as he recalled the moment she appeared. "Like a damn angel coming from nowhere she attacked it, and she saved me."

She appeared from absolutely nowhere, firing at that damn hollow from the street and looking damn brave even when it came right for her. She was young then, still in High School, but still a fierce girl when she had to head into a fight.

"She drew its attention, brought it in close and took a hit. It latched onto her shoulder and sunk its teeth in, and when it was up nice and close she finished it off," Isshin said with a smile, remembering it as if were yesterday.

Masaki had summoned up a small bow in her hand and used it to literally blow the damn things head off; it was impressive how she was able to handle the thing so quickly. It took her less than a minute from engaging to lure it in and finish the damn thing off in a single blow.

It was a thing of beauty and absolutely incredible.

"The thing that was in its hollow hole however was some sort of insurance policy so that nothing could be recovered, it was going to explode. I swooped in and got her away before it could detonate." He was lucky he was able to get to her fast enough to get her away from the Hollow, he was not so lucky however and took the full brunt of the explosion. Probably the worst shape he had been in, so beaten and bloody that he couldn't even stand on his own two feet.

But he wasn't alone, she was there.

"She didn't run though, Masaki came running up to me to make sure I was alright. Brave girl, knowing what I was and having no idea what that would mean if she revealed it. But she did," Isshin continued, shaking his head.

When she had told him her name and that she was a Quincy, even as she told him he could see the concern on her face. She was worried about what he would think about her, about her being a Quincy, after all the relationship between Shinigami and Quincy was quite hostile. And as he learned later it was a sentiment shared by many of her family.

"I thanked her for her help. Even as she healed me we didn't really talk about ourselves, she didn't even ask me my name. I didn't know why at first, how innocent she was and kind somehow stuck with me," Isshin said, he didn't know why he said that, but he felt it was needed.

For that woman had somehow drawn him in when they met, that single moment that passed between them had defined everything for them. After that day he never could get her out of his mind, she seemed to have infected his thoughts and he wondered if he should have gone back to see her.

It was a decision he never regretted.

* * *

He should have known it wouldn't have ended so easily.

He knew he had truly managed to take the Old Man by surprise. Had it been any other entity as their opponent, they would have been felled by the shot his ally had taken. Unfortunately for them, the Old Man displayed the same surge of increasing strength that had become rather bothersome. A strength that allowed him to move quickly enough that the arrow went through his left shoulder instead of his heart. Every time Tensa Zangetsu thought they had gained a clear advantage, the Old Man start to match their battle power until he would become greater than them.

 _Damn cheater indeed,_ he thought as he leaped to the side, avoiding a barrage of arrows by the Old Man, who had broken free of the chains that had bound him. As the battle continued, Tensa Zangetsu noticed that the ruins around him were now being reduced to even smaller chunks of rubble in the sand. There were still broken towers in the distance, but at the rate this battle was going he doubted it would take long before the last remnants of Ichigo's former Inner World would be gone.

While that was something he wished, for false hope and desire to be made into ashes so something new may rise, he was concerned that it was happening because of the destructive influence of Yhwach.

He had stepped up on the offensive. They had been mostly even since Tensa and Zangetsu become one, with himself and the Old Man each sharing a few moments where one had the upper hand. Tensa Zangetsu had thought that with her here the Old Man would be finally on the defensive, but he was proving violently uncooperative in submitting. If there was one thing that they all shared, in spite of being enemies, it was their stubbornness to never give up.

That was proving to be more than just a nuisance at this point.

He saw the Old Man raise his hand, a trio of arrows hovering above him, and with a gesture they were sent flying. Tensa shifted himself around to counter, but someone beat him to the punch and the arrows were shot out of the air. Smirking he lunged forward, blades at the ready as he thrust towards the Old Man.

His first strike was countered, as expected, but when he swung the second the doppelganger was only able to raise his arm to block the strike. Blood was shed, a minor amount, but that wound was one of several he had been able to land thanks to his new partner.

"You are getting overconfident, a few minor scrapes and you think I am on my last limb. I see that hollow has improved your power but dampened you common sense," the Old Man stated, seizing Tensa Zangetsu's wrist and pulling him into the path of an arrow.

Tensa Zangetsu looked back to see the arrow moving for him, the dark bolt slammed into his back. He felt the sharp barb shatter against his _heirro_ before it seemed to carve its way across his torso. Even with his iron skin it felt painful as it raked his skin.

Then it reformed on his chest and the arrow shot out and collided with the Old Man, lodging itself into his shoulder. The energy soon formed a set of chains, one connected to the doppelgangers shoulder and the rest wrapped around Tensa Zangetsu's body, effectively forcing them to remain within proximity.

 _Dammit!_ Tensa Zangetsu thought, those chains had restricted one of his arms. _I lost track of that one!_

Raising his other blade he was able to block a slash, not an easy thing with how close he was stuck next to the Old Man. A distance he did not wish to keep. As soon as the Old Man made to attack again Tensa Zangetsu swing down and shattered the chain connecting them, and then tried to back away while parrying the strike.

He failed, a nice wound dug through his shoulder and into his chest. It was only thanks to his hasty retreat that it hasn't completely removed his arm.

Scowling he kept falling back, keeping his distance as the Old Man pursued. His arm was still restrained, forcing himself to keep to the defensive rather than making a counter attack.

"I need these chains gone!" Tensa Zangetsu yelled to his ally. After her kill shot had been thwarted, the Old Man had tried to single her out, forcing Tensa Zangetsu take him on alone while she worked from the shadows, sniping at the Old Man with her arrows when she had the opportunity. For now he was hoping she'd see his predicament and fire a shot through chains.

Instead another series of arrows were sent flying towards the Old Man. The doppelganger leaped upwards, avoiding the bolts all together, before he swung his sword and summoned up a large arrow. However the distraction had allowed Tensa Zangetsu the time needed to slash through the chain and leaped aside before the Old Man's arrow impacted the ground.

The sudden burst of energy nearly caught him, but he noticed that the very arrow seems to be absorbing everything around it. He is pulling out his most powerful abilities to contend with them, Tensa Zangetsu realized before he felt an overwhelming presence above him. He had no time to react as the Old Man was now on top of him. His enemy grasped him by the throat and forced him downwards and into the side of a fallen building. Before he could swing his sword, the Old Man swung his swiftly, a wave of energy slammed into sword arm. This energy became a set of chains, pinning him to the building.

Tensa Zangetsu's mind worked overtime in desperation to figure out a way to escape the doppelganger's grasp and not get stabbed. He had no way to break the man's grip or divert the sword with the foot firmly planted on his wrist, and with his other hand still bound in chains he wasn't going to use that arm.

"Even together you were no threat," the Old Man sneered as he held his blade, ready to impale him upon it.

That statement held a great deal of weight behind it, because it actually gave Tensa Zangetsu an idea. It may be risky and could cost them down the road, but at the moment there was no other choice but to risk a delayed defeat than an immediate one.

For as soon as the Old Man stabbed that blade down Tensa Zangetsu ceased to be. Now he was no longer Tensa Zangetsu, he was Tensa and Zangetsu.

The blade impacted the stone face of the building, completely missing its intended target. Who had in a flash of light and energy separated themselves into their original forms, and then they both swung their blade up towards the Old Man's neck.

Because of the surprising tactic the Old Man was caught unawares, but that had only allowed them to strike and force him to let go of his weapon. He leaped back up and avoided the blades from touching his jugular.

Tensa gritted his teeth, he knew that this was a gamble but right now they were in very dangerous waters. Their fused form was much more powerful than either of them individually, even when working together. So now they were going to be facing against the Old Man without their trump card, something that had made their fight all that much easier.

"Dammit woman!" Zangetsu yelled. "What the hell was that with the chains?!"

"I didn't have a clear shot," the woman coolly returned. "Or would you have preferred to have lost an arm? Even with your high-speed regeneration, I don't think you can afford to be short a limb."

Tensa turned towards the woman, standing only a few feet away and holding her black bow in her hand, arrow notched and waiting to be fired. The three of them stood side by side, watching as their nemesis stared them down.

"Finally decided to step forward? Are you that eager to return back your King?" The Old Man asked.

"He is _not_ my King," she growled. "I am, however, eager to drive an arrow through your heart."

"That I am afraid will not come to pass," the Old Man responded, smiling slightly as he charged forward.

Tensa raised his sword and blocked the strike, he skidded back several feet. He knew now that they were at a severe disadvantage, that strike had actually cracked his sword. The Old Man was too powerful, none of them had the raw power to match him, not in might and certainly not in ability. He had the advantage, proven when he casually cast aside Zangetsu and then went onto the offensive with their female companion.

She was lithe though, avoiding the wide swing easily enough before firing off a trio of arrows. But the doppelganger was not easily struck, swinging his blade around her deflected each bolt and sent them twirling in the air.

Yet as she landed her hand reached for the chains that had once bound his fused form, tossing it up and above the Old Man. The interlocking chains connected to the twirling arrows through threads of reishi, and with a single gesture the net and arrows dropped down.

The Old Man was caught in the net, bound to the ground and restricted if only for a moment Tensa chose to attack. Lunging forward he stabbed his blade forward, but his premature attack resulted in a most unexpected outcome.

His stab was deflected by an outstretched hand, even bound in chains he still was not as immobile first thought. But that was a minor thing, compared to the blade tip currently lodged in his abdomen.

"Honestly, did you think I would be that easily chained down?" the Old Man mocked, pulling the blade to the side.

That once shallow stab wound now left a nice little cut along Tensa's stomach, painful to be sure but not a threat to his existence. Although this was but a taste of the agony he was going to feel through this fight before he was eventually reabsorbed back into the whole. All of them stood no chance against the Old Man, they were just not powerful enough.

"Do not feel regret, this was always how it was meant to go. There is no use in shedding tears or bemoaning your existence, accept this gladly and you will feel satisfaction when the end comes," the Old Man said as if it had always been meant to be.

The chain broke away from him, and he calmly walked towards Tensa. That great sword in his hand was raised, the arm holding it was tense and filled with power that was waiting to be unleashed with the swing. "Now die, and remember the purpose in which you exist."

Tensa knew that his weapon would shatter the moment his blade was touched, he couldn't dodge or escape, he was done for.

At least he thought he was.

Two blades rose up and blocked the attack, the familiar black katana of Zangetsu and another narrow sword of pulsing red reishi. Both of them holding off the larger weapon and saving his existence from being ended.

"Why the hell do I have to save your ass all the time? Man up already," Zangetsu muttered, straining as the downward pressure from the Old Man's blade began to increase.

The woman remained silent, preferring to concentrate on the task at hand. Yet Tensa could finally see past her hood, looking upon her face. Only her mouth was visible, the rest was hidden behind a bone white mask that reminded him of Ichigo's former Hollow mask, markings and all. It seems she took after the Hollow more than who she was actually was.

"The rapid dog and shadow think they stand a chance, you never had any the moment you chose to face me," the Old Man scoffed, his blade swiping to the side and throwing Zangetsu away.

The woman counter attacked, ducking down as the blade sailed her way and drew a second sword from her hip and swung it out. A burst of dark red reishi shot from the small black handle and sliced into the Quincy Fragment's chest.

The Old Man stumbled back a step, eyes wide and shocked by the sudden attack, it had obviously done something to him. He glanced down and felt at his torso, finding actual blood drenching his hand.

"It may not be real blood, but I know when something hurts, and that more than likely hurt," she sneered, holding her swords at her side. "And I want you to feel every single cut I give you."

 _Remarkable, she had somehow managed to cut me? But how could she_... his eyes narrowed in disgust when he saw the weapons clearly in her hands. "I should be impressed, but I am angered that such holy instruments would be perverted and used for such heinous means," the Old Man said through clenched teeth. "I can feel the Hollow energies coursing through them. They are an abomination, a corruption of the holy Quincy craft that has been upheld for over three millennia. Even for a Shadow, I expected you to hold more to the woman whose face you wear."

"Abomination, yes that would be true at least from your point of view," she mocked him. "After all, even if you are a representative of Yhwach, you are just like all other Soul Fragments. They are weak to Hollow energies; these chaotic and corrosive energies will wear away at the soul and kill you, just like these Seele Schinders here."

"You seek to use such things against me? When I only try to save Ichigo?" the Old Man asked. "Surely you have the memories of that woman. You must know what it is like to want to protect him. Why would you betray him like this? To subjugate him to such a cruel fate?"

"A cruel fate?" She narrowed her eyes at him once more. "Your very existence has all but ensured he would succumb to that nightmare! You are a hypocrite! A liar who preaches about peace and balance, but all you do is destroy, murder and subjugate anything in your way!" her voice showing more and more anger and rage the longer she spoke. "There is no mercy in you, no compassion! Everything you are is an abomination upon nature that should never have come to exist!"

"Necessary sacrifices, do you think that to create a world with peace and without suffering one must do so without bloodshed? This world has been corrupted by the delusion that everything must stay the way it is, that it cannot be changed, that all must exist as it is said to be," the Old Man argued. "I want to change that, to make a world without such misery. You are the stagnating fools that cannot accept this, that simply cannot let go."

"The same can be said for you, never letting go of that fear. Still that same mewling child that never could get over his own dread," the Lady replied, having composed herself from her earlier outburst. "Ichigo deserves to live, to grow old, and to die, like anyone else. I will not deny him that, I will let him choose his life and go through it as he sees fit."

"Whether we choose for him or not, he will never be given such a chance. I offer a better alternative and one that is free of pain," the Old Man said. "What could you possibly offer him? You are but a Shadow? Do you think he will embrace you? Love you? No, he will only see the pain that life can bring and all the misery that it entails."

"Such lofty words," Tensa said, strolling forward. "Has so much time passed that now you think yourself some form of divine savior?"

"You are nothing more than a deceitful angel," the lady returned. "You call me a shadow? That I may be, but I will be there for Ichigo. A comforting shadow that will never leave him."

"And she's worth more than you, asshole," Zangetsu said, strolling up beside the two of them. "If you think we are going to just up and die, you have another thing coming."

All three manifestations had their weapons drawn, Tensa and Zangetsu with their swords while the Lady had sheathed her swords and pulled out her bow. All three were ready to fight together against their common enemy.

"We have said it before and we will keep saying it until you accept it. You will not harm Ichigo, Yhwach!" Tensa declared.

The Old Man glared at them all in disdain. Were they truly this stupid? Did they not know they were doomed from the start? That his will was law?

"Do not believe you will win!" the corruption roared and the entire world became flooded with his power. "For against me, you have no future!"

* * *

Ichigo never expected to hear this kind of story when he asked the question that had been presented to him eighteen months ago. He had imagined this conversation happening in a multitude of ways, some serious, heartbreaking, maybe a few stupidly.

He always thought that when he asked the question, how his father was a Shinigami? That he would come to better understand himself.

But after this night's escapades, he had no idea how to process what he had been told. He had imagined a lot would have happened, many revelations about his father and his history being revealed. How he met his mother and why he stayed, beside the obvious reason that he was lucky to even be looked at by her.

Ichigo did not expect that his mother was a Quincy, one that had been infected by a Hollow that she and his father had thought they had killed. She would have died before he was even born if wasn't for Urahara, whom he still couldn't believe factored into his life even before he was born. The former Captain had come up with the treatment needed to save his mother, even if it required his father to give up his own Shinigami powers and live as a human for the rest of her life. He gave up everything for his mother.

But what really had taken center stage right now was a single underlying fact. Ishida Uryu, that bespectacled ass who was always on his case, was his second cousin. That didn't seem to pass Ishida either, as they two of them were staring at each other with not so little shock.

They were related. They had the same Great Grandparent.

"…"

Neither of them had anything to say on the matter, and it felt like a subject that they did not wish to broach at the moment. Something Ichigo was secretly glad for, he had enough on his mind already that he didn't need to add having an emotional talk with his Cousin.

"Masaki left the Ishida family and household after she graduated from High School," Isshin informed them. "They came to a decision that she would need to leave, considering she had been tainted by a Hollow, the decision was not difficult. More than likely it was Ryuken's decision to let her leave, probably his way to let her escape from the shadow of the family."

Ichigo tuned back in, deciding that he needed to focus on the rest. It was reaching its climax and he did not wish to miss anything important.

His father explained how he had opened a clinic, with the help of Urahara, having come to decision due to having actual skills in healing from when he was at the Shino Academy. It went on from there, details on how she would visit him often to hang out and simply make fun of him wearing white. How a friendship developed between them, slowly developing into something more.

"She could always tell when something was on my mind, when I would lie, when I was nervous, when I was genuinely upset," Isshin told them. "Masaki always had this knack for understanding me, don't tell me how but she could see right through me. She was always there, to listen to what I had to say, forgive me for telling those lies, and give some reassurance when I needed it."

His father seemed happy reminiscing about those times and Ichigo couldn't truly blame him for thinking so. His childhood with his mother was probably the happiest moments in his life, filled with certainty and peace. Ichigo never could not imagine feeling as assured and centered as he was back then ever again.

"I remember seeing a movie once, don't recall the name – wasn't really paying attention to it that much – but I do remember one scene. The guy was comparing this woman he loved to the sun, how it was the center of his universe, how everything revolved around her and kept everything stable and perfect. That it was perfect with her," Isshin wistfully said. "I remember seeing her crying, and in that moment I realized that she was my sun. The one thing in my life left that kept me balanced and right in my world." He signed and looked up to his son. "Nine months later you were born."

Then that was the secret, one that his father had presented to him and had intent to explain before Ichigo cast it off. Ichigo had put it off for so long because he didn't want to be reminded of his loss, the power he forsook in order to protect everyone.

Yet his father's words gave clarity and insight that he did not have, and understanding to where these strange powers came from. Questions still lingered, unanswered, and they make him think deeply on how this came to be.

"I know that you wanted to know this, even when things were bad after the war, I just," Isshin stumbled, running a hand through the back of his hair. "I just didn't know how to really broach it to you."

"…Dad. Thanks for telling me."

It was calm and blunt; he did not need to say it any other way. This was a long time coming, had it not been so serious and thought-provoking Ichigo would have suspected there would be more emotion behind this. Perhaps it would never have happened at all, he would never have been forced to ask these questions from his father.

"Something on your mind?" Kisuke asked, noticing the peculiar look on Ichigo's face.

"Dad answered some questions, but more are out there." Ichigo replied. "When I received the blade, I was told that I didn't know everything about myself, and who he was."

"Who are you talking about?" Kisuke inquired.

"Zangetsu, he told me he hid this from me. Kept it a secret," But the problem lay in why he had kept this a secret. What could have compelled him to keep something like this hidden? What was it about this that made it a taboo to speak of? Ichigo had no idea, but there had to be more to this than he knew. For his father gave origins to this power, and his reasons for hiding them were thinly kept and never broached.

Zangetsu on the other hand, he had never spoken of this. He had not given a single hint about this power since the moment they met.

"When did he tell you this?" Kisuke asked, leaning forward curiously.

"Right before I claimed the Quincy blade, Tsukishima was about to kill me. But then Zangetsu came to me and told me he has been keeping a secret," Ichigo replied. "He told me of it, showed me where it was and allowed me to draw it out. It was what saved my life." He looked up, and to his confusion saw that they were giving him some looks of disbelief. "What?"

"You do realize that is impossible right?" Kisuke asked plainly.

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked confused.

"A Zanpakuto spirit cannot manifest without the power behind it also existing, a Zanpakuto spirit is a materialization and physical representation of your power. If your Shinigami powers were not restored than technically Zangetsu couldn't exist." Urahara informed him.

"Well, technically it was Tensa Zangetsu," Ichigo replied. "He brought me into my Inner World."

"So… you're saying your _Bankai_ told you?" Kisuke asked.

"Ichigo, that is impossible!" Rukia exclaimed.

"How is that impossible?" Ichigo asked, feeling annoyed.

"She means that without your powers you could not have materialized a Zanpakuto spirit," Byakuya bluntly stated, drawing Ichigo's attention. "Let alone talk to him within your own mind."

Ichigo shook his head, denying this. "But this happened before. Back after you severed my connection the powers Rukia gave me and I went through Urahara's training to gain my own Shinigami powers. In the Shattered Shaft, I was beginning to hollowfy when I was pulled into my Inner World and met with Zangetsu there for the first time!"

Again he was met with some disbelieving stares; it was obvious that what he was telling them wasn't getting through to them. _Why was it so hard for them to believe me?_ But then he saw the pale look on his father's face.

"That cannot be," Isshin said, staring at his son with a look of horror. "You should not be able to see your Zanpakuto spirit until you claim your powers. That spirit can't be-"

"He is!" Ichigo shouted, so frustrated with the disbelief direct towards him he let his emotions get the better of him. "I know who my Zanpakuto spirit is! Hell, I stabbed my Zanpakuto through one of Kisuke's special dummies to manifest him so I could achieve Bankai as fast as I could! Zangetsu has been there for me since the beginning! We have spoken so many times! I talked with him today and he said…" Ichigo halted there, coming to realize something. "He said…"

It took him a moment, to realize what had been said between them after their long-awaited reunion.

" ** _I have already told you; I am not Zangetsu, Ichigo. I am Tensa and I have never lied to you."_**

He had kept a secret from him, one that he felt had caused him much hindrance. But what he just learned now, from everyone around him, he realized maybe that secret was not about this power. Perhaps it was about who Tensa really was.

"Ichigo?" Rukia asked. Ichigo did not respond, he rose from his seat and went to retrieve his blades. "Ichigo, what are you doing?"

"I'm getting my answers."

"No!" Isshin shouted, grabbing his son and putting him against the wall. He gave Ichigo the most serious look he had ever seen. "You are not going to speak to whatever that thing is! Not until we figure out how to contain it and then remove it!"

"Dad," Ichigo muttered, at first surprised by how his father had reacted. It was as if there was something else that worried him. But still, his core problem remained. He looked at his father, fully committed to his current course. "I need to do this."

"For one in your life stop being so damn reckless!" Isshin roared. "You have no idea what—!"

Ichigo saw his father's eyes roll in the back of his head as he started to fall down, with Ichigo catching him before he did. Looking up, he saw Urahara, holding the hilt of his Zanpakuto.

"I'm sorry, Isshin," Urahara said with some amount of regret. "But we don't have the luxury of taking it safe."

"He is going to be pissed at you," Ichigo stated as he laid his unconscious father with his back against the wall.

"I willingly accept whatever punishment he wants to enact on me," Urahara responded, removing his hat so Ichigo could see his eyes and know how serious he was now. "But this needs resolved now. Be careful, Ichigo. I have a feeling that your night of revelations has only just begun."

Ichigo nodded and went to the next room. He dropped to the floor, placed the blades over his lap and closed his eyes to concentrate.

* * *

He awoke a moment later, a dry breeze blowing over his face and flecks of sand colliding his brow. Looking onward, he found himself on the precipice of a ruined building, looking out over a vast white desert.

It reminded Ichigo of Hueco Mundo, the endless white sands of the Realm of Hollows. But he could see the rubble that jutted from the sand; these were the buildings of his Inner World.

 _I don't understand. Why are all skyscrapers broken?_ He asked himself as he looked around and felt the world around him. He felt no weight and pressure on his shoulders, that crushing ocean of despair was gone. _It's only been a few hours since Tensa pulled me in here. Did unlocking my Quincy powers and regaining my Shinigami and Fullbring powers cause such a massive change? Or was it something else?_

Leaping from his perch he searched the sands, looking for anyone that may dwell here. Tensa would be the one he thought would be here, but his mind eerily thought of his Hollow and how this place was a perfect little home for him. A perfect reflection of Hueco Mundo, this definitely would be somewhere he would love to live.

"Too much is going on right now, too many questions and too few answers," Ichigo thought aloud. "I need to figure this out right now. The longer I am in the dark the harder this is going to be for me to figure it out."

Only one person can help him discover the truth, and searching for him through this place is not going to be easy. This place was vast, and if Tensa had not appeared immediately since his entry Ichigo assumed that he could be anywhere in his psyche. It would take some time and that alone was causing Ichigo's nerves to flake.

"I want to get this sorted out, to finally be ahead and not have things hidden from me," Ichigo growled. His time working with the Gotei had revealed that he was entirely clueless to a great deal.

He often did not mind it that much, so long as this did not interfere with his desire to protect his home and friends he would not pry for information. Now things were different, he was older and wiser. He had no intention of staying in the dark any longer. His dad had come clean and now it was time for Tensa to do the same. _Of course I need to find him first. With how endless the Inner World looks now. He could be anywhere._

Suddenly something exploded out of his peripheral, a body flying through the air and towards him. He recognized the person, the one person he was looking for. It was as if his subconscious had decided to punch the one person he was looking for in his direction, as least that was the thought that came to mind.

"Tensa!" Ichigo yelled out, watching as the spirit slammed into the sands and rolled to a stop. He rushed over quickly to the spirit, wondering what could have happened to cause this violent entrance.

"Ichigo," Tensa muttered, rising up slowly as his sword arm slumped to his side. "I do not know if I should be relieved or concerned."

"What happened to you? What is…?" Ichigo tried to ask, but he felt something approaching.

His instinct warned him, and he quickly reached for his Zanpakuto and blocked the strike. He felt his arms shake, his legs buckle, and entire body lock up when he saw the person he was fighting against.

"Old Man?" Ichigo asked with wide eyes. "What... what happened to you?"

The Old Man said nothing at first, only narrowing his eyes and looked to Ichigo as if he were annoyed. "How troublesome for you to be here."

"What?" Ichigo muttered, in disbelief at how the being who had been beside him for so long now seemed irritated by his appearance.

"You have no idea of what is to come. Better that I disable you until I have dealt with them," he said, only for Ichigo to be unnerved by the twisted smile that came to his lips. "Then we shall discuss our future."

Ichigo had barely a moment to react before he was no longer in a deadlock with the Old Man, instead he saw him by his side swinging his blade upwards. He was fast, faster than he remembered him to be. The surprise would have cost him, probably a limb in fact, had it not been the arrow that had caught the Old Man and pinned his arm to the ground. Trapped for a moment he tried to rise up, while Ichigo made a quick get away before he could attack again.

Breaking free, the Old Man attempted to attack but a strike from above forced him down a knee. A Cero colliding with him and flattering him to the ground, Ichigo looked up and saw to his surprise his Inner Hollow there.

But beside him was another figure that he had never seen before, regardless of the world he was in. A red cloaked individual that had some sort of body armor that was reminiscent of his Fullbring. As the Cero faded, the figure in red fired a red arrow from the black bow that had suddenly materialized in his or her hands. The arrow then split apart into multiple bolts and dragged behind it a series of chains. They fell upon the Old Man and immobilized him onto the ground, as he tried to rise and break free several more arrows struck him, punching through his arms and legs and impaling him to the ground.

"What have you done!" the Old Man hissed, lifting his sword arm up with the intent of cutting his way free.

Ichigo would have moved to intercept but both his Inner Hollow and the stranger appeared in front of him. The Hollow had with him his inverted zanpakuto, while the woman had apparently discarded her bow to wield a red version of one of Ishida's Seele Schinders. The two drove their blades each through an arm of the Old Man and pinned him completely to the ground. Both of them stepped away, admiring their good work.

"Didn't think we would have been able to do it," his Inner Hollow said, smirking as he crossed his arms.

"It was by chance, we would have gotten him eventually. Thankfully Ichigo coming here took his attention." the unknown person said, whom Ichigo could now assume was a woman by the sound of her voice.

 _But why does her voice sound familiar?_ He asked himself as he turned to Tensa. He watched as the spirit he had always assumed to be that of his zanpakuto began to hobble forward as he held his side.

Tensa's glare was steady and focused on the bound older version of himself. "We told you, that you would not harm him. You have been beaten. Submit."

"Submit?" the Old Man laughed, clearly amused by the demand. "All you have done is bought time, chains cannot hold me down forever, and your blade cannot cut through my skin. These fools should have gone for the head."

"Don't tempt me," the Inner Hollow said, holding his right hand up, now pulsating with hollow energy, as if he was preparing for a Cero. "After all you have done, it would be more than justified to blow your head off."

"Alright! What the hell is going on here?!" Ichigo yelled, turning to all present, his confusion turned to frustration as he now had so many questions that needed to be answered. "Who is she? Who is the Old Man? And most of all, who are you? Who are you really?"

Tensa seemed to be silent for a moment, before he turned towards his Inner Hollow, who had lowered his hand. He looked back at Tensa with an infuriating smirk. "Hey, don't look at me. This is your mess, Tensa. You need to clean it up. Me and Red have got guard duty," His Inner Hollow said, giving a smirk.

Tensa sighed, turning towards Ichigo and composing himself. "Ichigo, I know that you have many questions, I will try to answer them all at once. But please, be patient as I explain." Ichigo gave him a firm nod asking him to continue.

"I am not a Zanpakuto Spirit, and neither is this man here; we are one in the same. We are both manifestations of your Quincy power and heritage, two pieces of a single fragment that have split from one another." Tensa explained, gesturing to the older version of himself.

Ichigo stared back at Tensa before asking the obvious. "Why? Why would you pretend to be Zangetsu?"

"In the beginning, he and I," Tensa pointed to the restrained Old Man. "were one entity and we had a single, simple goal: to prevent you from becoming a true Shinigami. We never wanted that for you. We did everything we could to suppress your latent potential, including becoming your primary source of power."

"You tried to keep me from being the thing that I _needed_ to be to protect the ones I cared for," Ichigo asked, trying not to let his anger show.

"I told you before, what _you_ wish to protect and what _I_ wish to protect are two different things," Tensa said calmly, yet Ichigo saw the regret in his eyes. "To become a Shinigami would mean risking life and limb. It would expose you to numerous perils, experience pain and loss and put you on that path that would lead to your death."

"Did you really have that little faith in me?" Ichigo asked candidly. "If you really are the manifestation of my Quincy powers, then you should know me well enough to understand."

"I do, as I am now," Tensa answered. "But back then, I was very different." He looked back to the Old Man, who smiled at the discomfort Tensa had. "As I said before, when he and I were one we became your primary source of power. However, you still managed to use your zanpakuto. You did in fact awaken it. We simply caged Zangetsu, the true Zangetsu, in order to limit your connection."

Ichigo frowned for a moment, trying to discern the meaning before he recalled something else. He turned towards his Inner Hollow, with eyes opened wide as the realization quickly dawned upon him.

"I told you I was _Zangetsu_ ," his Hollow, or rather his Zanpakuto spirit, said smirking widely.

Ichigo rubbed his forehead, another damn clue right in front of him and he never questioned it, all of this hidden and put to the side because he didn't know a single key piece of information.

"Betting you thought I was just some run of the mill Hollow infecting you right? Not entirely untrue," Zangetsu stated, giving an uncaring shrug. "Can't blame you there, even if it was your dumb ass that never considered other options. Instead you simply listened what everyone else told you."

Ichigo could tell that this would be a subject he would not let go, but one that Ichigo needed to figure out. So he decided to skip ahead. "You were the Hollow that attacked my mother. Over twenty years ago, right?"

"Part of me is," Zangetsu replied. He smirked seeing the confused look on his face. "The Hollow that latched onto your mother's soul when it attacked her. After it did that, the hollow tried to assimilate her but couldn't. It was designed to assimilate Zanpakuto and then Shinigami. So it remained dormant within your mother, until she gave birth to you and passed that sleeping Hollow unto you."

Ichigo looked back at Zangetsu in shock. "You're saying, I've had a Hollow in my soul since the day I was born?"

Zangetsu nodded. "When you became a Shinigami, the Hollow awoke and immediately started absorbing your unformed Zanpakuto and once it finished doing that it would go on to absorb you. However, because of your unique heritage it didn't turn out that way. Your unique heritage blocked the Hollow's attempts, breaking down its will and allowed the half absorbed Zanpakuto spirit to fight back. That allowed you to use your Quincy powers, regardless of you being aware of them, to subjugate the assimilation."

"So what are you?" Ichigo asked. "Zanpakuto? Hollow?"

Zangetsu had a wide grin on his face. "I'm unique Ichigo. I'm both. The instincts of a hollow and the will of an unformed Zanpakuto merged together into one spirit. You did what no other Shinigami had ever done, and it sure as shit wasn't as simple as those Visored made it out to be."

"So you still got that drive to assimilate me?" Ichigo asked.

"No. I am your instinct, I've told you that many times already," Zangetsu chided his partner. "However the merger, while stable, was far from ideal. In the beginning, my thoughts were still more reflective of the Hollow that became a part of me. Its instinct was assimilate all that it infected, but over time I developed more as true Zanpakuto spirit, and began to have my own thoughts."

"You still tried to take over my body." Ichigo countered.

Zangetsu rolled his eyes at the young man. "Yes. As I said, in the beginning, I was more overwhelmingly hollow than Zanpakuto spirit in nature. It's why I and Tensa's original self agreed to have him hold the reins until my… _condition_ could be sorted out."

He didn't say anything from there, likely leaving out details best left unsaid. Given the brutal methods Zangetsu used to try and take him over it would be wrong to assume that he was regretful for doing it. He trained Ichigo to fight with everything he had, and likely used fear and near certain defeat to force him to grow stronger.

But he had his answers, for Zangetsu that was. Tensa on the other hand needed to give him some more answers.

"What about the Old Man?" Ichigo asked. "You said you split from him, why?"

"He represents a different aspect of me, one that is still loyal to the holder of the Fragment. Where I wished for you to be free of pain and suffering, he would impose it on you," Tensa replied.

"Lying again I see, and I thought we are meant to be telling the truth," the Old Man said, smiling widely as he made the declaration. "Tell him the truth; let him hear it from your own mouth."

Ichigo glanced from the Old Man and back to Tensa.

"This fragment within you, it has passed down through your family for over ninety generations, passed down through your bloodline until it was inherited by you," Tensa explained. "These fragments come from the progenitor of the Quincy Race, a single individual that was once revered through history as a god. His name is Yhwach."

Ichigo raised a brow. He did not expect that the Quincy had existed so long. _Ninety generations? That was over three thousand years. But why does that matter?_ He asked himself. _The Quincy race as a whole is gone. The only ones that have any Quincy blood left are me, Ishida, his father, and my sisters._

Ichigo actually sent a silent prayer of thanks that neither Karin nor Yuzu had manifested any Quincy abilities. It was more than enough that Karin could actually see spirits while Yuzu was still unable to, though he supposed it was the big brother in him talking. It was something he'd have to worry about in the future. Even so, with only five people of Quincy blood left, what did it matter?

"How does this relate to him?" Ichigo asked, gesturing towards the Old Man. As he made the gesture, he noticed the smile on the fragment's face. That smirk, a conniving and sinister grin that said he knew something that Ichigo didn't.

"He is obeying the will of Yhwach, the Quincy King who is very much still alive," the Lady announced, stepping forward. "He has been hiding from the world, from the Shinigami, for over a thousand years. But soon he will hide no longer."

Ichigo turned to this unknown figure. The fact that she was wearing something similar to his completed Fullbring suggested that there was a connection him, but then why was she wearing a version of his Hollow Mask. _And her voice. Every time she speaks, it's like I should know it._ "Who are you?"

She hesitated for a moment, shifting on her feet nervously it seemed, before glancing towards Tensa and Zangetsu. Both of them giving subtle gestures to her, it was obvious they were trying to coach her through this introduction.

"Once you know who I am, everything will change Ichigo. You will never be able to unlearn the secrets that will be laid bare before you," the woman told him. "Are you prepared to learn the truth?"

Ichigo stared at her, his eyes resolute. "I knew the moment I dived into my inner world this night that there was much I had no idea about, that had I chosen to ignore for the sake of protecting my friends and family. But I can no longer afford to be ignorant. I need to know all that has been hidden, even in my own soul." He took a moment to steady himself further before speaking. "Show me who you are."

After a moment, the Lady complied with his request. Slowly, she removed her hood and grasped the bone mask over her face. Her pale orange hair stood out, a near match of his own. And when her mask descended Ichigo felt himself freeze, every nerve in his body locked up as he looked onto the face of the woman.

She gave a small smile, her deep brown eyes spoke of some sadness in them. He could not do anything, just stand there looking at a face he thought he would only ever see in his memories and dreams.

His mother.

Masaki Kurosaki.


	5. The Truth Worse than Hell

**Author's Notes: And here we, nearing the end of 2018 with the final chapter of the year. I thought I would post this as an early Christmas present. I want to thank everyone for their reviews and their responses.**

 **I actually got a few early Christmas gifts in Bleach Brave Souls, as I managed to pull Rukia, Riruka and Nemu from the current Christmas banner. Sadly I can't say the same for the other mobile game I frequent, Fate/Grand Order. Dropped 100 Quartz trying to get Gorgon and came up empty.**

 **Adapting the Thousand Years Blood War arc is going to be a very time consuming process as I don't want to just shove my version of Ichigo into the War and see what would change. Sufficed to say, the Awful Truth's version of the Blood War will unfold in a very different way and will have a very different outcome from what happened in canon.**

 **For now, I hope you enjoy the final chapter of year and let us look forward to 2019.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

 **The Awful Truth**

 **Chapter 5: The Truth Worse than Hell**

Ichigo was frozen, the face of the woman before him had brought forth such powerful emotions that he couldn't do anything but look on speechless. She looked exactly like his mother, in every single aspect he remembered she was the spitting image of the woman that raised him.

"Ichigo—"

"No," He said, shaking his head. "Change. Be someone else. Whatever kind of manifestation you are, make yourself look like anyone else but her. You are _not_ my mother."

"Have I ever said I was your mother? I would never seek harm you this way Ichigo." The manifestation stated, looking back at him with a compassionate expression. "I am not Masaki Kurosaki. However, that does not mean a part of her is not a part of me."

Ichigo blinked, surprised by her statement as he tried to unravel the meaning behind her words, yet failed to. "Then who or what are you? Why do you look like my mother?"

"Your soul etched upon me the name Sagiso," the Fullbring manifestation said, walking towards him. "As to how I can hold a part of your mother, it would be easier if I can help you to remember."

"Remember?"

"You were so young when I was born, you have repressed the memories of that day as much as you could," Sagiso said sadly. "But if you wish to understand what is to come, then I require your permission to continue. I will not subject you to the truth without your consent."

Ichigo watched her closely, he had some reservations. But he would admit that his resistance stemmed from this unknown figure wearing the face of his mother, although he didn't know if his desire to accept her request was because of the same reason.

But there were truth he wished to know, things that he had to understand. It was time he learned, so fighting down these warring feelings he steeled himself and nodded his head.

Without a word she reached forward and placed her thumb against his forehead, immediately a bright light blinded him. His eyes shut instantly, but still the radiance piercing through his eyelids and burned his retinas. It lasted for a moment, his entire world going dark.

His eyes were open, looking around frantically for any light. He felt the pattering of rain upon his head, the echoing taps of droplets hitting the ground. Then his vision slowly returned, yet darkness was still smothering his vision, the world around him was dark. Only when a flash of lightning sailed over them did Ichigo finally see.

Ice filled his veins, blood going cold as he recognized where he had been brought.

"What? What are you—" Ichigo stepped back, only a firm hand on his wrist halted him from retreating any further.

"I told you, you suppressed the truth of this day," Sagiso responded, holding him in place and ensuring he wouldn't run away from this.

How could he not. This was the moment where he lost his mother.

Playing out before him like a recording, him a helpless bystander watching something he could never hope to change. His past self, a young boy, laid there on the ground and unmoving, his mother hovering over him. While slowly approaching was a Hollow he would never forget, never forgive.

Grand Fisher.

Ichigo reached for his Zanpakuto, ready to strike, only to be held back by Sagiso. Her hold on his wrist was strong, and the determined look she gave him was just as steely.

"This but a memory," Sagiso said to him. "You can do nothing here, only watch."

"Watch what! My mother dying again!" Ichigo snapped, he threw her arm away. "What the hell is the point of this? What is the reason you would drag me back here to watch _this!_ "

"Haven't you ever wondered why you were spared?" Sagiso asked.

"What?"

"A hollow like Grand Fisher out and about in the World of the Living, consuming your mother's soul with impunity? Do you honestly believe he would have just eaten her soul and left you, a defenseless child, alone instead of devouring you?" Sagiso posed to him. "Everything you have seen until now has been your own memory. Now, it is my memory."

Ichigo looked back towards his mother, the guttural roar of Grand Fisher taking his attention. She seemed ready to defend herself, and even in the dim light Ichigo saw the glint of something silver on her wrist.

Then something flashed before him, falling from on high and slamming into the ground with tremendous force. The pillar from the heavens looked almost liquid with how it flowed and pulsed, and even with the brightness he could see the dark shapes within. It covered him and his mother, while Grand Fisher was struck mid-swing of his clawed arm.

The Hollow screeched, falling back and collapsing to the ground, clutching at its burnt arm that started to crumble as if turned to ash. It fled without a fight, running as fast as it could away on its remaining limbs, with it gone Ichigo focused back on his mother.

"I know it is difficult, but please, endure it," Sagiso said, his mother's body had fallen to the ground, blood seeped from her chest as she lay there beaten on the ground.

To his shock, he watched what he assumed to be his mother's corpse slowly crawling towards the unconscious child. _She... she's still alive!_ Ichigo thought in disbelief, moving closer to see his mother, to see the determined look in her eyes as she was now within arm's length of her boy.

"Oh, thank heavens. You are alright... I'm so sorry I let you get hurt, Ichigo," Masaki cried, the tears flowing down her face. Painfully, she put her right hand toward the bleeding wound in her chest, covering her hand in her own blood. "I'm sorry… but I don't think I'll be getting through this."

She reached forward and wrapped her bloody hand around his smaller one, squeezing it almost reassuringly.

"I wish I could be with you always like your father and I had always dreamed... to see you grow up with your sisters… go to school… meet girls… have a family of your own… but that will never happen... not now..."

Ichigo felt her pain, to know that you were going to die and leave behind so many, his mother knew she was going to die. Yet still surprised him by putting her bloody hand on his past self's forehead and drawing a symbol there in her own blood. She spoke in a language that he could not understand but as she did, her hand glowed blue as did the bloody mark on his forehead. Both eventually faded away, as if they had never been bloodied at all.

"But at least now, a part of me... will always be… with you," With those words spoken, she lay herself down on his chest, Ichigo watched the light fade from his mother's eyes. He saw his younger self wake up, seeing her body and desperately trying to wake her even though she would never open her eyes ever again.

"Mom," Ichigo breathed, his voice hoarse and strained by emotion. "What did you do?"

"She engraved a portion of her soul onto yours. She engraved me."

Ichigo turned back to Sagiso, and as he did the area around them vanished, in the blink of an eye they were back in the desert with the others. He stared at the manifestation of his Fullbring, now in front of him with new eyes. "You've been with me, ever since that day?"

Sagiso nodded. "I am a fleeting shadow, lingering within you yet unconnected to your Quincy, Shinigami or Hollow powers. I could do not much, I was simply an echo." She paused for a moment and her face softened and for a moment, Ichigo could feel as if it his mother looking down upon him. "But on days when you were at your lowest, I did my best to help you. To give you a sense of comfort, of love that Masaki would given to you if she were still alive." Sagiso put her hand over her heart. "She loved you so much Ichigo and I feel that love every single day. I am the memory of her love for you."

Ichigo thought back to those early days after his mother's death. Days where he felt like he was being crushed by a sorrowful darkness all around him. How he blamed himself, even as a child for her death. How he hardly spoke to anyone that first year after she died. And yet during the darkest of those days, when he felt so utterly alone, he felt what he thought was his mother's presence with him. Over the years he had felt that, even though it had become less and less the more adjusted he had become, he could still at times feel her presence.

Now he understood it wasn't just his imagination. His mother had literally left a part of her soul within him. As he felt a tear go down his face, Ichigo knew this was the most purest expression of love he had ever experienced. That even as she lay dying, his mother had only thought about him and her family.

Sagiso looked on at Ichigo, waiting long enough for him to be composed and take her words to heart before continuing. There was still so much more he needed to know. "When you manifested your Fullbring, I found something that I could truly latch on to. Something that I could use to manifest into an actual being and so I became a part of it but I never had chance to come to you."

"Because soon after I completed the Fullbring, Ginjo took it from me," Ichigo stated. "But how is this possible?"

"All Quincy transfer a portion of their soul onto their children, this fragment carries the knowledge and wisdom of all previous generations. 'Zangetsu', the Old Man, is that Fragment," Sagiso explained. "Usually a Soul Fragment would weaken if bred between a Quincy and Non-Quincy. But circumstances favored you, turning that fragment into a sentient being, no different than a Zanpakuto Spirit."

Ichigo thought for a moment.

"So you latched onto my Fullbring, why not merge with 'Zangetsu'?" Ichigo asked.

"Because of what killed me," Sagiso said, a scowl marring her face, before she corrected herself. "No… what killed Misaki… sometimes it is hard to differentiate myself from her. The fragments sometimes conflict."

"Fragments?" Ichigo questioned.

"We will get to that," Tensa stepped forward, taking over the conversation as Sagiso seemed to be lost in her own thoughts for a moment. "But in response to your earlier question, Sagiso was wise to do so. Latching onto my former self would have doomed her to a much darker fate. It was because of her, her lingering presence and will, that gave me the means to break free. If not for her, I would have remained as I was and been unable to truly help you as I did now."

Ichigo looked at Tensa. "What do you mean Sagiso would have been doomed to worse fate?" he asked as he saw the twisted version of the Old Man, still struggling to free himself from the bonds holding him down. "I don't understand, Tensa."

"There is much about Quincy you do not know, only a very few know the whole truth. Not even the Shinigami know the true scope of what it means to be a Quincy, and what hardships we endure to have this power, what it costs them," Tensa answered. "I am sure by now you are aware of several facts about the Quincy correct?"

Ichigo knew a few. The Quincy were nearly wiped out two hundred years ago. They were hunted to extinction because their powers destroyed Hollows and caused an imbalance in the Cycle of Reincarnation. The Quincy's use Reishi domination to form their weapons and use their abilities, they take it from the world around them.

That was the gist of it, whatever deeper secrets there were he did not know.

"There are three hidden truths about the Quincy race, each one more horrifying than the last," Tensa told him. "First: When a Hollow is killed by a Quincy, their souls are _not_ destroyed. What is destroyed is their Saketsu."

"Their Chain of Fate?" Ichigo asked, knowing that the Saketsu was the main tether between the soul and body. "How does that factor into this?"

"The Chain of Fate serves a major purpose. While it does serve as a connection between the Soul and the material form, that is not its true purpose. The Saketsu is the tether of the Soul to the Cycle of Reincarnation, in which all souls flow. Human, Shinigami and Hollows all maintain this." Tensa said. "But what Quincy do when they kill Hollows is break that connection and instead tether it to something else. They tether it to Yhwach."

"What?" Ichigo staggered back in shock. He had been told by Urahara and others that the Quincy destroyed souls and left unchecked would cause the worlds to collide, it was the reason why the Quincy had been killed by the Shinigami, to protect the Cycle of Reincarnation. _But this, stealing the souls from the cycle to give to Yhwach?_ There was no way of telling how many souls over the centuries the Sealed King had taken for himself. "That's insane! Don't they know the damage that can cause, that the imbalance of souls could cause untold devastation? Do they even know?"

"It is only part of the reason, but deep down the reason they exterminate Hollows is because they have to," Tensa stated. "In all Quincy there is Silver, this silver is what gives us our ability to harness reishi, without it we would be normal humans. But this also leaves us vulnerable to Hollows, if we are infected by their taint and presence a Quincy will die."

 _Then it was a choice, either kill Hollows on mass to protect themselves or die,_ Ichigo understood. _Not a decision most would have trouble deciding on._

"It was programmed into all Quincy I am afraid, a weakness embedded by the Progenitor of the Quincy," Tensa said. "But more than that, all Quincy are connected to Yhwach. Through that silver in the blood of all Quincy lies that connection, one that assures them of sharing the same fate as any Hollow they slay. That is the second fact."

That itself was not what Ichigo expected. _He views his own people as nothing more than expendable tools for him then? Used and discarded when they had done their service?_ "All Quincy suffer this fate when they die?"

"No afterlife, not even oblivion," Sagiso said somberly. "Yhwach takes the souls tethered to him within himself. These souls still exist but are trapped within his being, their power siphoned off and only a shell remains within. It is an ocean of dead, unable to do anything but live in their own memories, recounting random parts of their lives without control. It is the only solace a soul trapped within him could endure, but not all memories are pleasant. For these souls are but mindless shadows that know nothing of their own existence, and tormented by these visions of a world they can never return to, or escape."

"That... that's insane," Ichigo sputtered.

"That is not the end of it," Sagiso said. "For there is the final, awful truth and relates to Yhwach other method of taking power for himself." She looked to Tensa to continue.

"There is a folklore among the Quincy, a song written over a thousand years ago, and destined to be fulfilled a millennium after its first utterance," Tensa explained. "This song is known as the _Kaiser Gesang_ : 'In Nine Hundred Years he would regain his heart beat, in ninety years he would regain his intellect, and in nine years he would regain his power, from the impure Quincy that roam the earth.'"

It took only a moment to reflect on the final verse, and what it meant until now.

"Mom…" Ichigo said, realization and horror grasping at his chest. "She was…"

"Yes, to regain his lost power he must take back his Fragments. Just as I am a single fragment so too were many others in other Quincy. He killed those of Gemischt Blood, impure in his eyes and a divergent from the pure bloodline of the Quincy," Tensa explained.

"That night… why that night?" Ichigo asked.

"She would have perished regardless if you met Grand Fisher that night or not," Tensa answered. "Her death at that moment was not without purpose, for in his eyes all Quincy are expendable. Impure, pure, it does not matter; all he cares for is his goal. Truthfully he wished to use that moment to his advantage."

Ichigo looked to Tensa not understanding what he meant. _What could be so advantageous about using that horrifying moment to his advantage? What could he possibly hope to gain from it?_

"He means me."

Ichigo looked towards Zangetsu, his Zanpakuto standing there. It was a strange sight, one that nearly had Ichigo do a double take, gone was the sinister smirk and cocky attitude. He looked almost normal, as normal as it was to be Ichigo that was, the Hollow's scowl almost make him look like a true reflection.

"That pain and despair, it was a perfect ground for me to grow and feed. I thrive in environments like that. It's simple symbiosis. It makes me stronger, and in turn, makes you stronger," Zangetsu said, oddly neutral in his explanation. "He wants your power, something that transcends the natural barriers of Hollow, Shinigami and Quincy, something like that is unnatural. You, Ichigo, are an impossibility."

Ichigo had heard of something similar to this, how Hollows and Shinigami becoming one was impossible. Even the Visored say that their powers are still unstable and not easily used, for they cannot risk using their powers for too long without danger.

How many times has he been regarded as unique and abnormal for his abilities and how quickly he could grow in power. Many times he heard them comment about him, Urahara and Yoruichi, Rukia and Renji, all of them showed amazement for how quickly he could develop.

"That is correct; we are two halves of your power. Shinigami and Hollow as one, and Quincy as the other, together they could not function. But if they did, the amount of power you could wield, if aware and trained, would be phenomenal," Tensa stated. "A Shinigami's ability to manifest their inner power, a Hollows instinctual nature to draw upon their entire well of strength, and a Quincy's power without to take from the world around them. Power like that, would be invaluable to Yhwach and to his mission."

Ichigo struggled to contain this, hold back his frustration and anger. How could it be true? Again he was faced with the reality that his own life was the play thing of another. That another chess master had come along to make a game out of his life.

He had been fighting through pain, facing all these struggles, because of the machinations of others. How much longer would he have to deal with this? Who else was out there toying with him without his knowledge? It was maddening to know that he had yet to escape being the pawn to someone's plans and schemes.

"It is not so terrible as you might believe." Ichigo turned in the direction of the Old Man, smiling as he made the comment. "What was given to you was a will to push forward, through pain and tragedy and to never be shackled down. To resist, to fight, to kill those who would threaten your existence. What was given to you was true freedom."

"A lie," Sagiso countered. "You seek his demise."

"It is an inevitability that he will die, I cannot change that, and neither can you. But to give him the strength and power to become more than he is, even for a short time is a gift few can say they have earned. For Yhwach wishes to remake this broken and dilapidated world into something better; the Shinigami would do the opposite, they would subjugate him to a horrifying fate undeserved for one who sacrificed so much for them." the Old Man said while spitting the utterance of Soul Reaper. Without warning he eyed Sagiso critically before looking to Tensa. "So, that is what you did. You pulled another part of the mother from his Majesty through the source and stuck it to the shadow."

Ichigo said nothing, only listening on to this as he understood that his mother's soul was trapped within a monster.

"What did you hope to accomplish?" the Old Man sneered. "Did you honestly think her soul would learn something by being a part of his Majesty after all these years? Do you really believe she would make a difference in changing Ichigo's fate of dying? Just like all those who are destined to die in the Crusade that is about to unfold?"

"That will never come to be," Tensa said fervently. "We will not allow him suffer."

"And again, you are all delusional children. You care not for his life, for if you did you would spare him from this," the Old Man said, the chains around him beginning to shake. "But fear not...for I intend to save him from that fate."

The explosion of spiritual pressure from the Old Man caught them all by surprise; his three spiritual manifestations were nearly thrown off their feet. But that was likely not the intent of the outburst, it caught them off guard but it was only meant as a distraction from the true attack.

Zangetsu and Sagiso were forced back, the former having a blade carve through his chest and the latter being thrown back by a powerful burst of spiritual energy. Both of them flew away and limply fell to the ground, in that split second the Old Man attacked again. Tensa was only able to raise his sword in defense, but it was taken hold of by the Old Man and forced aside.

Tensa didn't have a chance. The blade punched through his chest and left him hanging there. Then a right hook knocked him from the sword, sending him flying away – blood and viscera were sailing with him through the air.

"Their mistake was holding me," the Old Man said mockingly. "They should have known I would not be held down forever."

Ichigo looked on shocked, the speed and precision of the Old Man's moved were greater than he could recall. He was more powerful than he realized, and that was proven a moment later when he had to block the large blade. He staggered back, before he was seized by the throat.

The world went weightless as he was thrown into a building, and then something slammed into him as the hand returned to his neck.

"I wished for you to grow, to become stronger than this. But because of the meddler I am forced to take matters into my own hands," the Old Man said, his grip beginning to tighten. "To think he thought he was protecting you; all it did was leave you vulnerable and less valuable. Strength and ability is what Yhwach desires, and if you did not perform he would have killed you himself. Or done worse to move along your development."

Ichigo grasped the hand and tried to pry it from his neck, he failed as the Old Man's strength was greater than his own. Instead he punched at the limb and buckled it, before backhanding the Old Man across the jaw. He staggered slightly, and Ichigo grabbed him by the collar and pulled his face into the building.

Dazed, Ichigo pushed him off and leaped forward, towards the falling man. Swinging down he caught him along the arm, a shallow wound forced along the edge of his blade, but it was superficial and ignored.

"Look how pitiful your blade is, still a fragile pointed piece of steel that cannot harness the full might that still remained chained down," the Old Man sneered, casting aside the blade and attacking. "They have kept you on a leash too long! Instead of giving you proper aid they ensure you do not gain the strength to oppose them!"

Ichigo attempted to raise his arm and catch the Old Man's wrist, hoping to halt the blade swing but again he underestimated the strength behind the swing. He was thrown back, a gash moving along his shoulder and arm, he was lucky it had not taken his entire arm.

"You would not believe how many years it took to cultivate you, to make you come into existence, how long it took to make sure you came to be the man we wanted you to be." the Old Man said as casual as could be.

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo hissed, glaring up at the man.

"Do you think your birth was by chance? That your existence came to be by random coincidence?" the Old Man scoffed. "No, your life was conceived over a thousand years ago. Every detail, carefully chosen and thought-out. Every potential problem and hindrance were removed from your path. In spite of our best efforts some still attempt to hold you back."

The Old Man attacked, summoning several arrows to his side and casting them towards Ichigo. The substitute retaliated, a single nameless Getsuga colliding with the projectiles and cancelling them out.

"You think I care?" Ichigo yelled back, launching upwards and towards the Old Man.

"As expected, youth and inability to conceive the truth have blinded you to true Wisdom," the Old Man sighed. "Your birth was a great gift to the world; your coming had done so many great things and has yet to fully accomplish to great deeds yet to come! If only you were not so blind!"

They clashed, circling the air as their blades collided together and forced one another back. Ichigo did not allow him to gain the upper hand again, he would not be beaten back.

"I don't care what you say!" Ichigo shouted. "If you think I will be taken in by your words, then you have another thing coming!"

"You prove to me your weakness! Unable to do anything and accept the truth when presented to you!" the Old Man responded, slashing forward and forcing Ichigo back. "From the mouths of those that you trust! They speak truth and yet you do not believe me when I utter them! What does that prove Ichigo?"

"That I know you would twist that truth to try and get me to believe in whatever garbage you are selling!" Ichigo replied, blocking a strike meant to take his head. "I don't care if I was planned out! I choose my own fate! As does everyone else!"

"There was no choice given, only strings pulled to make the desired effect occur. Do you not know how many generations of Quincy needed to be created? How many lives needed to be controlled, corralled and guided through every day of their lives? How the lives of the Shinigami, Humans and so many others must be controlled to see to your birth?" The Old Man said. "Your birth was destined, meant to end this long-standing war and see to the fate of this world. To save it from the eternal suffering that its occupants are forced to endure for the last million years."

Ichigo did not respond with words, but with swings of his sword. The force of his strikes upturned stone and displaced sand all around them, building all around cracked and broke apart. The Old Man was momentarily forced back.

"We are not so different you know. The line that separates us is only time and understanding, and I sense now that you are close to seeing the truth," the Old Man said, stepping forward and retaliating.

"I know enough!" Ichigo yelled, clashing with the Old Man in a flurry of strikes. "I know Yhwach killed my mother! That is all I need to know, all I need to understand!"

"You do not understand anything! Not yet! Still too blinded by personal loss and pain to truly know what must be done! We are no different!" The Old Man said. "Yhwach wishes for the same thing as you, to save everyone from pain and suffering! So that no one may lose those they love to death, so that despair cannot consume them! This world is in a perpetuity of pain and suffering, with fate dictating who lives and dies. That must be changed!"

The Old Man forced him down to a knee, blade holding down his own sword. "How many people have died because of that desire for change?" Ichigo asked, struggling to push off the sword on top of his own. "How many more like my mother had to die for that madman to get what he wanted?"

"Many, but you should know that the benefits of sacrifice are greater than one would admit." the Old Man responded. "Every bond that is severed, is like a chain that breaks one's restraints, do you not admit that your mother's death was not for your benefit? That the pain it caused you, the rage and desire, only magnified as you grew in strength and age."

Ichigo kept his head low, his muscles straining to lift his sword.

"Do you think he is not unsympathetic, that he does not care for the lives of his people and servants? He does, they are comrades and allies. They must work together and become one. But he knows that for every bond he is forced to sacrifice he will grow stronger, and their deaths will help achieve his goals and dream. Your life is no different than his, if you understood that, you would accept all the pain and suffering you have gone through and harnessed it for your purpose." the Old Man said, attempting to press down further. "Now stop resisting, and do what you have always done, protect those you want, because in the end, you only want to protect others. Do this. Sacrifice yourself. Save everyone and know your reward will have you be finally reunited with your beloved mother."

For a single moment, a single split second Ichigo felt something. Like white noise, it was a faint blank tremor of nothing within him. No despair, no anger, no uncertainty. He felt nothing at that moment, completely detached.

It lasted only a moment, but it was long enough for him to come to realize something profound.

"No."

There was an explosion all around them, many ruined buildings crumbling and exploding from unknown source. The cause did not show itself, but Ichigo reacted accordingly, he threw up his blade and forced the Old Man back.

"I won't abandon them, I won't forsake them," Ichigo said, standing in place, as more buildings turned to rubble and disappeared within the swirling sands. "The people I fight to protect I will never let die! We are not the same!"

"There is no choice in the matter. In this moment or in the not so distant future, this is the end that is always meant to come to be. You are to follow in your predecessors' steps, only your destiny is to have a much grander purpose than theirs. For your death, will bring about a better world," the Old Man said with a smile, charging forward and slashing towards Ichigo.

Only for the substitute to reach out and grasp the Old Man's wrist, stopping his sword swing cold and the smile vanished.

"A _better_ world?" Ichigo growled, and slowly twisted the limb away.

The Old Man seemed surprised by the sudden strength that seized him, Ichigo himself would have shared that same surprise had he not felt such burning fury within his heart.

"What kind of world would it be," Ichigo began, tightening his grip on the Old Man's wrist as he looked his opponent dead in the eyes. " _if it required_ _so many to_ _**die?!**_ "

With that declaration, Ichigo twisted sharply without hesitation and snapped the Old Man's arm in half.

The doppelganger staggered back, blade falling from his hand, and he looked in shock at the injury. As he fought against the pain, he heard another series of explosions resounded through the Inner World, more buildings collapsed to the ground and were reduced to dust. _What is this?_ The Old Man asked himself with wide eyes. _What is causing such devastation? Why are the remnants of the old world collapsing? They should remain strong and stable and able to aid me in. How—_

"Everything I do, everything I have done, is to protect those I care about!" Ichigo yelled, lunging forward and slashing the Old Man across the chest, the blade digging deep into his flesh and actually making the manifestation gasp in shock.

The Old Man clutched his chest, feeling the wound, feeling the 'blood' coming from the cut. "This cannot be… how did you…?" he gasped, before he was pushed back by a single punch.

"Shut up," Ichigo looked to his Zanpakuto, glowering for a moment before he planted the blade into the ground. What he wanted to do next, he wanted to do with his own two hands.

The Old Man staggered backwards, coming back to his feet. Yet the confusion on his face was clear as day. He could not understand how this was happening to him, how his body was taking these wounds and not recovering as he had earlier. "Why are you still fighting me?" he asked the advancing Ichigo in disbelief. "You understand now! I can see it in your eyes! You understand why I am doing this!"

"I don't understand!" Ichigo yelled, throwing a punch to the Old Man's jaw. " _I will never understand!_ "

Ichigo threw a punch, and another, and many more. He kept punching, drawing blood and tearing skin. Eventually he picked up the Old Man, lifting him overhead and throwing him through a nearby structure, the building crumbled on contact.

"I have faced all manner of enemies since I gained these powers; I felt their hearts through my blade!" Ichigo yelled, lunging forward and delivering a punch to the Old Man and forcing him to the ground.

The Old Man attempted to retaliate, but when he created a sword and tried to string Ichigo blocked the limb and then backhanded the Old Man aside.

"Enemies and friends, I could feel everything intention they had, their desires and dreams! I knew them better when I crossed blades with them, when I was fighting them with all I had and they did the same!" Ichigo yelled.

With each punch someone flashed before him, a face and feeling punctuating his heart.

"I sensed their **regret**!" Byakuya did not wish to sacrifice his sister, but a sense of duty forced him to hold back his personal feelings to see the law fulfilled and a promise kept.

"I felt their **anger**!" Renji hated him, when they first met, hated him with such a passion.

"The desire for **vengeance**!" Gin, a will to make someone he hated pay, and his unwillingness to involve others.

"I sensed their **loneliness**!" Aizen, for all his evil and cruelty, he was a man that was without equal or friend. A man alone in the world.

So many faces, so many emotions that played through their heart and guided their actions and who they are. He sensed it all; he felt it and knew them well.

But here, Ichigo sensed nothing.

"But not you!" Ichigo said, hauling the Old Man up by the collar, looking him dead in the eyes. "I feel nothing from you! No regret! No pity! Nothing! You killed my mother and felt _**nothing**_!"

The Old Man let out a roar of anger, breaking free and creating another reishi sword. He attempted a stab to the chest, only for Ichigo to twist around and kicked in the fragment's leg and forced him down, then delivered a knee to his jaw, which made stunned the Old Man.

Ichigo looked down at him in contempt. "We are nothing alike! Nothing you say will change that! You think that sacrificing the bonds I have will make me stronger?" With a scream, he kicked the dazed manifestation to the side of the head. The amount of force used with that one kick caused the Old Man's body skid across the ground until it collided with rubble, impacting with back against it and his head hanging. "It is the only thing that has ever given me strength, to know that I have something left to protect! That I am not alone in this world!"

Ichigo waited patiently, knowing that this was not over. He waited for the Old Man to move and continue the fight. Finally, he slowly raised his head. Only this time, Ichigo no longer saw the face of the manifestation; however distorted he had been since arriving here, he had helped him through so many trials and tribulations. The Old Man had been a guiding hand, a comrade he could count and depend on.

Now instead of seeing Old Man Zangetsu, he saw the true face of Yhwach.

"You think that they are the reason you have this strength? I made you into what you are! Not them!" 'Yhwach' cried out, a righteous anger showing on his aged face. "Everything you are is because of me!"

That stopped Ichigo for a moment, a calmness fell over him. Gone was the righteous anger and hate, left in its place a tranquil calm that allowed Ichigo to think clearly. It took a moment for him to process what was said, and in a way he did understand something now. "You're right, you're absolutely right."

'Yhwach' let a smile form on his face, believing that his son finally understood as he was walking slowly to him... until Ichigo was suddenly in front of him, burying his fist into his stomach, taking his breath away.

"You made me into what I am," Ichigo hissed, stepping close and delivering another hit. "You took my mother from me, from my family. You made me understand despair and the dark pain it brings. But with that pain, comes the strength it can give."

He delivered another punch, ducking under the retaliatory swing, before slogging him in the jaw.

"Because of you, I overcame that darkness and never let it consume me," He continued to punch and kick, forcing 'Yhwach' back. "I stepped into a world I did not know, a world that few gave me a chance to understand. But I didn't need that, you held back my power and because you threw me to the wolves at every turn and made me realize that I need only my own strength to survive."

'Yhwach' attempted to block the strikes Ichigo sent his way, furiously trying to understand how his misbegotten son was overpowering him, forcing him down to a knee.

"You gave me the drive to keep going, the will to never back down. Always moving forward, to never surrender, to never give up," Ichigo continued his assault, giving no quarter, no chance to recover, forcing 'Yhwach' down both knees.

"You may be responsible for my birth, that I am here now because of you, but you will never be the one that turned me into the man I am today," Ichigo stated. "I never had a moment in my life where I did not want to protect something, never did that change, and never did that desire come from another. I sought only the strength to do what I wanted, and you showed me that way."

Raising his hand, Ichigo called to his Zanpakuto, and in a moment the blade was back in his grasp. "I reached this peak, the height of my power, thanks to you." Ichigo said to a broken and bloodied fragment of Yhwach.

"This... has never happened," 'Yhwach' rasped, blood dripping from his mouth. "No Quincy... can dominate me. This world... this world is mine."

"No. This is my world, my soul, and you have no claim to it. I forge my own way now, and I do not need others to lay the road to that destiny," Ichigo stared defiantly at the Quincy King. "I don't understand you, but I never needed to. I have seen the hearts and souls of many people, I understood their motives and desires, even if they conflicted with their actions. But you, we are not the same as you claim."

The Old Man before him was so different than what he thought he knew, it wasn't a man driven by desire and purpose. It was driven out of fear, a fear that had festered and created a delusion that did not accept the world for what it is. They were not the same.

"You are a delusion, built on fear, suffering and ego. I will never be like you, because I will not sacrifice all those around me. I will not give up the one thing that gives me true strength," Ichigo stated resolutely. "I am not a man built around a lie, who uses words and power to justify he is right. I know where I stand and where you do. That alone makes us enemies, because you stand against what I want as much as I stand against what you want."

"Then there is no change in what is to come," 'Yhwach' spat in disgust. "This will be the end of you. No matter what you say, the world is _mine!_ "

Ichigo lowered his head for a moment, as if paying respect. "Old Man. If any part of you, even a sliver, is still the same man I met in the shattered shaft, know that I thank you for all you ever did for me. I am grateful." He raised his head, his eyes full of conviction as he raised his sword, "Farewell, Old Man Zangetsu."

He swung his sword down from it erupted a Getsuga Tenshou unlike any before it. A wave of power so massive it rocked the very world.

A power so great it swallowed up 'Yhwach'.

* * *

'Yhwach' stared in fascination of the Getsuga that Ichigo had launched at him. It was neither blue or nor black. Rather it was a mix of four colors: white, black, red and blue. Colors associated with all of the powers he had inherited, and a mix of powers that wished to expel him for good.

 _Incredible how powerful he has become. But it is useless. I am a part of him. Using this against me will do noth—"_ ARGH!"

'Yhwach' let out a scream of utter pain. A scream could not stop as he felt himself being torn apart.

 _How? How can this be happening! I am a part of his majesty! His power flows through me and this child!_ 'Yhwach' asked himself as he saw his right hand breaking apart into nothing. Fear gripped him as he felt a specter he wished to destroy, his reason for existing.

The Specter of Death.

 _I must get more power from his Majesty!_ The corrupted fragment furiously thought. _I must be able to let him know of this! He must accelerate plans to harvest the boy! I will…_

 _Enough._

'Yhwach' blinked as in the corner of his eyes he saw something that was impossible. _Who are you! What are you doing!_

Old Man Zangetsu was restraining him from acting, a look of finality on his face. _I am an echo of what you once were, when you were whole and one. I am the once whole piece of 'Zangetsu'._

The whole? Could it be this echo was what he was before Tensa split himself away from the whole? If so why was he resisting? Why was this greater part of himself fighting to hold him back.

 _Do not interfere then! Step forward with me and fight back this wave that would see us cleansed!_ 'Yhwach' attempted to pry the hand from his shoulder, but it remained in place.

 _No. There will be no more running from this._ The Old Man's arm snaked around 'Yhwach's neck, holding him in place.

 _What are you doing!_ 'Yhwach' tried to fight back, free himself but it availed him nothing. _Where is my power? Where is Yhwach?_

 _Ichigo is right, you are a coward. I too was a coward_. The Old Man tightened his hold. _I did all within my power to restrain Ichigo's growth, my fear stopping me from letting him grow beyond his means. My fear in betraying Yhwach. I am that unfathomable fear of defeat, of loss, of certain demise._

'Yhwach' struggled against the alternate spirit that kept him immobilized, the fear of death making him panic _. You fool! Don't you understand! The boy could kill us with this power! We can die! Do you want to die!_

 _If it will save Ichigo you, then yes. I would gladly die. And now so will you._ The Old Man looked on. _How is it that you do not realize that Tensa was once a part of me as well? How do you think something so small and minuscule as he, breaking from this greater part could do so? He was small and insignificant even before you gained Yhwach's power, and yet he held greater strength than you. Do you know why?_

'Yhwach' did not respond, only hastening his attempts to free himself, violently trying to force the Old Man off him.

 _Ichigo has grown beyond what I expected of him. He has faced many challenges and suffered through many defeats and victories. I watched, with pride, as he grew into a weapon, into a warrior. Into someone that I see now, had the power. To destroy the one man that I feared could not be resisted._ The Old Man said. _Tensa is not some minor form of resistance. No, he is what I had felt and given me the courage to believe it is possible. Hope._

 _You would die for that?_ 'Yhwach' asked incredulously. _You stupid fool! You die out of hope! HOPE!_

 _My hope lives on, and with the courage it has given me, I kill the fear that remains._

'Yhwach' shook his head in disbelief. _No! No you fool! Stop! Let me go!_ He screeched at the top of his lungs, no longer showing the malevolence or the arrogance he displayed when he had the advantage earlier. Now was merely the sniveling cowardliness of a being that clung desperately to life and threw everything aside to try to survive. _I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Please don't let me—_

Old Man Zangetsu watched as the fragment of Yhwach was erased from existence before his eyes. Even as he felt himself being erased as well. Even through the darkness, he could look upon the boy, no the man, that he had helped and hindered all this time.

And yet knowing what he did, Ichigo still thought well of him.

 _You will survive. Never doubt that. Never succumb; you have lived through so much already, that nothing can stop you._ Those were Old Man Zangetsu's final thoughts before he was erased out of existence.

* * *

Ichigo stared at the damage that he had unleashed with that one Getsuga Tenshou. It felt different. It looked different. Everything was different. He couldn't feel his presence any more. Gone were the towering skyscrapers that once had been dominant in his Inner World.

Those buildings were said to represent hope, a desire to see his dreams come true. They were instead chains, massive weights that held down his true power and might so that he could advance along the path another set out for him. Only with their collapse could he free himself from that illusion, and with this final piece removed he was unbound.

Before he could give any more thought on it, there was something that caught his eye. Where Yhwach had stood only moments ago, there were wisps of blue spiritual energy just floating around. It was not long until these blue wisps faded to nothing.

"So this is it then," Zangetsu said grinning. The Hollow stepping forward and shouldering his Zanpakuto. "Finally free to do some actual good huh?"

"Don't become overconfident," Tensa warned. "We have a long road ahead of us, one that will be marked by death and pain."

"But with Yhwach gone, we don't have to worry about the looming threat of death over our heads," Sagiso replied.

"We aren't out of the woods yet," Zangetsu added. "Yhwach is going to come for us, with everything he's got."

Ichigo had no intention of dying any time soon, but he did have a strong desire to see one man dead. With what was left of Yhwach's influence in his soul gone Ichigo had nothing else to concern himself with here, now it was his playground, and he intended to use it.

"Let him come then," Ichigo replied, facing the manifestations of his powers. "We'll be ready for him."

They remained silent, looks of determination and excitement could be seen across their faces, one he himself shared. For the first time ever, he felt like he truly understood himself. All of himself. They all shared the same goals. There would be no more bargaining or calls for help. Everything would be used at their fullest to defeat their enemy.

Ichigo could not help but allow himself a small confident smirk. "Now then, shall we begin?"

* * *

It was a strange occurrence, one that had not occurred ever in his mind.

But as the Sealed King opened his eyes within his throne room in Silburn, he felt a shock run through him. It was a feeling he could not put into word, for he had never felt such a sensation in recent memory.

He sat in his throne, pondering it taking well over an hour till he could finally place the feeling he was feeling.

Loss.

For the first time in over a thousand years, he felt the pain of loss. The loss of a fragment of his soul. He had split his soul so many times over the millennia, those fragments going to his followers. He always knew that when his followers died, those fragments would find their way back to him and it would continue until the day he was truly whole once more. That day that was fast approaching, the day when he ended the lie of death and brought forth his vision for a better world.

A vision he now realized would never be as envisioned it, for a piece of him would never be able to be experience it.

He felt a fragment of his soul be erased from existence and he would never reclaim it. But worse than that, he knew who had that fragment.

"My son borne in the darkness," Yhwach said, with a tear running down his face as he asked sorrowfully to no one. "What have you done?"


	6. Moving Forward

**Author's Notes: Welcome to the first chapter of 2019. I would like to announce that thanks to all of you, we have reached two new milestones for this story. 372 followers and 273 favorites. The Awful Truth has now become my most followed and favorited story. I also want to thank everyone that has reviewed so far, the last chapter the reviews showed how much you cared. I ask that you continue to show how feel in your reviews as it means something to me.**

 **I went all in on the New Year's Guaranteed Five Star Summon for Fate/Grand Order, picking the Lancer Package. I actually got Arturia Lancer for the Five Star and also picked up Lancer (Alter) and Vlad III (Extra). I also picked up Astolfo and Ibaraki off single tickets, so not a bad start to FGO in 2019 all things considered.**

 **For Brave Souls, I spent 3000 Spirit** **Orbs chasing after that New Year's Ichigo in the Step-Ups and while I got ten new characters for my roster, I still couldn't get him so just a little disappointed there. Back to saving Orbs until the next big banner months from now.**

 **And now without any further delay…**

 **The Awful Truth**

 **Chapter 6: Moving Forward**

"I need to know everything you know." Ichigo said, strolling calmly across the desert sands, beside him were the manifestations of each of his powers. "And I mean everything."

He was being led across the vast expanse of his Inner World, taken somewhere that was important. Ichigo did not question it, his mind was abuzz with many revelations that he could focus on nothing else but them. From the Old Man, to the nature of his powers, and the danger that still awaited him in the future. But he had time, which he planned to use preparing for that inevitable conflict.

"There is much you need to be made aware of." Tensa stated.

"From the way this walk is going I say we have time. But for now, let's start with Yhwach." Ichigo replied, turning to look at the dark-haired young man. "What can you tell me about him?"

"Yhwach is not the only threat you will be facing now, he is not alone in this coming war." Sagiso said. "He has an army, composed of thousands of pureblood Quincy who for the last thousand years have been breeding, training, preparing for the conclusion of a war that has started on and off again for the last four thousand years."

Ichigo halted in his pacing, turning to regard the two manifestations. If Yhwach has an army in the waiting, one that has been preparing to attack than he was going after only one group.

"He's going after the Gotei isn't he?" Ichigo asked Tensa

"Yes."

"No way of stopping this?" Ichigo asked.

"None," Tensa responded instantly.

"Ichigo, what you are dealing with is a man whose intellect and aptitude for planning out long term goals are second to none. Not even Aizen could have planned out the last thousand years down to a T with so little deviation," Sagiso stated.

"How bad are we looking here?" Ichigo asked, he needed details, something to gauge even a little of what this guy is like.

"He is a monarch, a politician and general," Tensa answered. "He is a heavy-handed ruler that has the respect and fear of all around him, but they adore him and worship him as a god. Their undying loyalty comes from his raw power, charisma, and sheer presence inspires his troops. But he has no conscience; his own people are sacrificial lambs to him."

"He is right, the Kurosaki and the Ishida family came to the World of the Living over fifty years ago. Escaping from Lichtreich following several purges carried out across the lands," Sagiso explained. "Yhwach disposes of those he cannot use and have little value to him in the future. Civilians and dissenters are disposed of. He had actually sent many to the World of the Living in large numbers."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at that, a sudden influx of Quincy over the centuries. He had an idea what happened to them, two hundred years ago Ishida said that many of his people had been exterminated. "So he organized that cleansing two centuries ago."

"Yes, it served him two-fold," Tensa replied, raising two fingers. "The first: it removed elements of his race that he had no use for. With each Quincy that dies, their souls are absorbed into his being. Sacrifices like that were carried out over the nine hundred years he was sealed away."

Ichigo recalled the poem. Those nine hundred years was likely where the Quincy race was systematically purged of their numbers. "What was the second reason?"

"Galvanizing the Quincy race into hostility with the Shinigami," Tensa answered. "There was always enmity between the Shinigami and Quincy, especially a thousand years ago. But Yhwach made sure to remind his people of that hatred, to let it drive them. He used the genocide in the World of the Living to rally his race to preparing for war."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, he certainly could understand that. Ishida had actually been quite hateful of the Shinigami, their initial meeting was less than pleasant. It was so strong that Ishida had no issue involving innocent people in dangerous situations. There was possibly still lingering resentment. That was from someone who wasn't likely as overzealous and fanatical as those that served under Yhwach.

"That poem though, it mentions culling all the impure Quincy—" Ichigo asked, but Sagiso was already prepared to answer that delicate question.

"Yhwach reinforces racial purity on his people, heavily despised by those within the Quincy race," Sagiso intoned. "The deaths of the impure are seen as a justified action and sacrifice that serves only one purpose."

 _So not only is he a lunatic but he's also a fanatic racist,_ Ichigo shook his head as he understood a single truth.

He hated Yhwach. He hated him the moment that he learned of all of his crimes and the more he heard, the more he learned about the Sealed King, that hatred he had for him only grew. Hate did not come naturally to Ichigo but where Yhwach was concerned, it came all too easily. But he had to keep a level head, for if he lost it then he would only do more harm than good. "So, he is like Aizen then. But worse."

"You idiot. He's a lot worse than that bastard," Zangetsu said, bringing up the read and wearing that same unnerving smile he usually did. "Unlike Aizen, this guy has got power and experience far greater than butterfly boy. He's also got soldiers who would die for him, that would commit mass murder for him without question."

"Butterfly boy?" Ichigo quipped, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

"Don't deny it," Zangetsu replied, daring Ichigo to correct him. "You thought the same thing the moment you saw that _ridiculous_ transformation."

"Worse than that," Sagiso interjected, trying to bring the conversation back on track, "Yhwach has two dozen soldiers in his ranks that are equivalent to Captains."

"Two dozen!" Ichigo mouthed in disbelief. Being worse than Aizen was one thing, but Yhwach was shaping up to be an even more dangerous opponent than he had previously anticipated.

The traitor Captain had been able to dispatch the entire Gotei single-handedly and with seemingly no effort. Having manipulated and schemed for over a century and pulling a shroud over the Shinigami's eyes. With having an army of Arrancar under his command and dominating them with an iron fist.

But Aizen had a few flaws. The guy certainly didn't have an army of thousands under his command and neither did he have the undying loyalty of all those soldiers. Aizen only really had four Arrancar in his army that could be said to be better than a Captain.

There was no point in questioning if Yhwach was worse. He simply was. The danger he presented couldn't be ignored. Nor could he keep this to himself.

"Hiding away for a thousand years though, you can't just do that without being seen. From what I know the Quincy were considered extinct until Ishida turned up," Ichigo said. If they had to expel the people that didn't obey Yhwach, they had to know where they were coming from.

"Where they are is a secret even I have little knowledge of. I was a fragment meant to be passed down through the generations until I came into your possession. Even as I glimpse back into the blood memory of your ancestors I cannot discern where it was that Yhwach brought his people. Or where it resides now," Tensa stated.

"Neither can I," Sagiso added before Ichigo could ask if she was aware of the location. "Tensa did pull a fragment of Masaki's soul that has been taken by Yhwach through the source so that he could fuse it to me. I gained some knowledge from Masaki as well as Yhwach but unfortunately the information is scrambled. It will take me some time to sort it all out. Even then, there's no guarantee that a location will be among the information I can uncover."

That made things harder. There were only so many places that they could hide. But in truth there was no telling what kind of tricks the Quincy have up their sleeves. For them they could technically be anywhere, in the World of the Living or otherwise. If they have remained hidden for so long it could only mean that they have gone somewhere the Shinigami don't know about or cannot reach.

"Guess that means we need to just warn them and prepare for an inevitable attack," Ichigo commented.

"Not like we would have been able to attack anyway," Zangetsu spoke up. "Got no idea what we would be walking into. But knowing you, I suppose running in headfirst isn't new to you."

"You know me so well," Ichigo remarked, although he didn't feel the need to be sarcastic about it. "Just wish I knew why thought my inner world has to resemble an endless desert." The moment he said that, he saw Zangetsu come to a halt.

"Honestly you can be just so thick headed some times. You really just don't know much about yourself now do you?" Zangetsu said, before he took Ichigo by the hems of his robes. "This is taking too long. Come on. We're not walking the desert for the next fifty years."

"Hey! What are you—" Ichigo wasn't given a chance to finish before he was catapulted off the ground, being dragged by Zangetsu across the sky to places unknown. Any other time he would have ripped himself free from the Hollows grasp, but recent discoveries halted such attempts. So he resigned himself to dangle there and wait for them to reach their destination, he would have preferred to be led there rather than dragged like a toddler.

Eventually they came to a stop, crashing to the sandy earth and upturning the ground with their collision. Ichigo coughed his lungs up as he breathed in the small particles, as he waved away the flakes of sand he stepped towards Zangetsu was who standing there staring off towards something.

"What the hell was that?" Ichigo grouched, glaring at his Inner Hollow who didn't even deign to give him a reply. "Seriously, what the hell Zangetsu?"

"You call this an endless desert with nothing to see, but that's because you aren't looking deeply enough," Zangetsu stated. "Turn around Ichigo."

Ichigo finally turned to look at what he was looking at. To his surprise he found a simple oasis; a big lake of clear blue water in the sand surrounded by high rising trees. On closer inspection, Ichigo realized that there was grass and shrubs, brilliant emerald green and damp with dew. But even more interesting was that it was all still growing, that in a matter of seconds the oasis was slowly growing in size. Grass was sprouting from the sand, sapling slowly forming and expanding in every direction.

"This world is full of endless potential, with mysteries and sights yet to be seen to match the abilities you have yet to show," Zangetsu said, jerking his head towards the Oasis. "Go ahead. I'll wait for the other two."

Ichigo didn't give him much of an argument, instead he moved forward and into the oasis. The ground beneath his feet being cushioned by grass that was starting to rise out of the sands. Pushing through the greenery he came to the edge of the water, running a hand through the cold liquid and feeling a strange sensation pass through him.

He looked into the depths of the water and for a moment recalled many things, moments where he felt alone and afraid. The well of pain that had been filled with the seeping dark of his despair, then it was gone. Hope overshadowing this darkness and allowing him to move forward, he recalled it all as if he was reliving those moments.

"It is a representation."

Ichigo turned towards Tensa, who came up beside him and looked down into the clear waters.

"These waters represent much, a cleansing stream that will wash away the pain and remnants of the past. One that will engulf the darkness and pain and reshape it into something better, something more vibrant," Tensa stated.

Ichigo recalled a similar explanation given to him over a year and a half ago, one that had been to describe his Inner World. "So how is it that this pool trumps my rising towers?"

"Those towers never represented your hope, not truly," Tensa replied. "More… they represented your remaining resolve. Something that crumbled with every obstacle and failure you met, with every defeat they grew fewer and smaller. They were a static and fixed, unable to change and rebuild themselves."

Ichigo supposed he could understand, although it was shown that those towers were just another lie concocted by the Old Man when they had first met. "So what changed now? Why a pool of clear water?"

"Water cleanses. Removes taint and vitalizes. Allows thing to grow and flourish, even in the ashes of your former world it will grow and never cease. Even when torn apart and shattered, the waters will remain and the world will be lively again," Tensa explained, giving a sigh. "To hold you back, both your powers and your mind, is something can no longer be allowed to happen. The war ahead will be marred with much sacrifice and you cannot afford to be kept in the dark."

"And as I said earlier, this oasis is just the starting point of your true Inner World," Zangetsu continued. "A world of unlimited potential to be explored."

Ichigo accepted those words. He didn't feel as if he needed them, but it at least gave him the clarity to understand his own thoughts. He had what he needed, for himself and for his friends. "I think I have what I need."

"Then you should return and warn them all of what is to come," Sagiso said, before she stepped across the water. "But remember to return here. For these waters represent more than just your ever growing strength, but also the interconnected life knowledge of your ancestors."

Ichigo watched as scenes played across the water below, places and people he knew nothing of and of things he couldn't understand. This would be something he would need to look into when the time came. But for now, he had a mission; one that he had to see to completing soon.

"Wish me luck. I have a lot to do," he was about to leave but saw the look on Sagiso's face. "Sagiso?"

"After all you have seen, you must know Masaki's death was never your fault," Sagiso said before becoming somewhat bashful. "But Isshin, I know him. Or at least as well as how Masaki knew him. He would blame himself for what happened." A pause. "Would you..."

Ichigo nodded. "Of course. I will set him straight," but then a smile came to his face. "But I'm pretty sure when I get back, he's going to be a little busy."

* * *

"You bastard!" Isshin yelled, throwing a punch at Kisuke, who skillfully ducked under the swing.

Although he was forced to block a knee to the face. Having trained with Yoruichi for years had refined his reflexes to a fine point, no movement or motion was wasted or expended more energy than what was needed. At least it was a hundred years ago, he had been a little lax when it came to his powers.

So that was probably why he was having a little trouble right now with his little brawl with Isshin. Sure he could probably use Kido, but if that failed it would certainly set the former Tenth Division Captain off. Best make sure that this stayed a fist fight rather than escalating to something that might damage his shop.

"How dare you do that to me! I am trying to be a parent here and you are getting in the way!" Isshin yelled, looking quite annoyed.

"I think that you are being a little overbearing," Kisuke said, trying to placate the man but it only seemed to incense him further.

"I am not overbearing!" Isshin yelled back, sending a fist towards the Shopkeeper's face. "I am trying to keep my son safe!"

Kisuke dodged again and leaped back, making some distance just in case he needed to actually use some actual serious firepower to take out the former Captain. They were nearly evenly matched, at least in the physical department, but when it came to Kido and thinking ahead Kisuke had that in spades.

"You need to let him do this, we try to stop him he will do it anyway," Kisuke replied.

"I think we both know why it is important to stop him from looking into this, there are dangers here we don't know about." Isshin said. "Negligence on our part led to Misaki's death, who is to say if Ichigo learns something he shouldn't that the consequences won't be the same?"

"We don't know that for sure," Kisuke said. "There is no way…"

"There has never been a Shinigami and Quincy Hybrid before. And don't give me that crap about manifesting another type of spirit in your inner world, look at the Visored!" Isshin said.

"A little different, but I guess I can concede the point there," Urahara stated.

"Then you know what that spirit is, who it is. That is something to be very concerned about." Isshin said, his expression grave and for the moment didn't seem to be inclined to attack.

"I know, but I have something on standby just in case. If something were to happen I would be right here to handle it." Urahara stated.

At the back of the room sitting there were Uryu, Rukia and Byakuya, who watching the proceedings with interest.

There was little to no understanding being passed on to them, those who watched the verbal and physical spar had no reference to know what they were speaking of. A general idea of what they might be discussing was known to them, but there was deeper meaning to this little spat than just the fact Ichigo Kurosaki was speaking with a Zanpakuto Spirit, one that was not who he said he was.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. They knew something very important, something regarding Ichigo and this mysterious spirit that resided within his inner world. A spirit that may actually be a danger to him.

Byakuya knew that he would need to report back to the Captain-Commander soon, inform him of the development and maybe even see about having Kisuke or Isshin brought into report on this. There was a lot that was suspicious, especially if it involved these two and Ichigo. Byakuya had no interest in being left out of the loop, the last time this man kept a secret he allowed a very dangerous man to roam freely in the Seireitei.

The last thing he wanted was for the Gotei to be caught unaware by another problem that this man chose not to reveal to them. Circumstances and reasons be damned, if there was a legitimate threat here he would discover it and report back to the Captain-Commander.

Before he could interfere with this squabble Ichigo had risen to his feet.

His sudden consciousness had been noticed by all, they quickly turned towards the calm young man. Byakuya could not say he had seen such a calm resolve in the young Shinigami's eyes before, it was strong and inflexible. Whatever had transpired within had hardened him.

"Ichigo. Did you sort everything out?" Kisuke asked.

"Yeah," A grim look passed over the Substitutes face as he gave a nod. "It wasn't a cake walk and I learned more than what I probably wanted to, but I did what was needed."

He then turned and looked at his father, taking a few steps forward before giving him a swift kick to the gut. Isshin crumbled under the hit, wheezing as he quivered on the ground. Byakuya, along with everyone else, regarded the strange scene curiously.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ichigo asked, giving his dad an annoyed look. "Getting all scared and paternal on me, why are you meddling with my decisions now?"

"What? I am your father you idiot! Of course I am going to meddle!" Isshin groaned, glaring up at Ichigo through squinted eyes.

"You are meddling for the wrong reasons though. I have gone into a lot of situations where I could have died and yet you never held me back, tried to stop me. Not until now." Ichigo said, giving a sigh as the irritation seemed to drain away from his face. "It isn't your fault okay? Just let it go."

"What?" Isshin asked, obviously confused from the way he looked.

"You have to stop blaming yourself for what happened to Mom, what happened that night is not on your head. She wouldn't blame you, and I know from a damn trustworthy source that she would ask me to make you stop blaming yourself for what happened," Ichigo told his father. "Just because you said I shouldn't blame myself, doesn't mean you need to shoulder it instead. Only one person deserves that, and it is neither of us."

Byakuya watched as something flashed across Isshin's face, as if he seemed to realize something. Whatever it was, it had taken away his ability to speak, along with robbing him of the pain that had brought him low.

"So, it was _him_ wasn't it?" Kisuke asked.

Byakuya watched the exchange carefully, there had been many events in his life that he had bore witness to. But this one in particular had taken his interest, and would likely be one that he would remember for the rest of his long life.

Kisuke Urahara was someone he considered to be unscrupulous and unpredictable, to trust the man would be foolish if not fatal. He was witty and none to serious, making the act of conversing with him a chore. He could at time speak seriously and sprout fonts of wisdom as needed, but those were far and few in between.

Yet what he saw now, something he had never seen before reflected in the man's eyes. Byakuya wondered for a moment what it was, he couldn't quite place the right synonym, but he was certain of what it could be. For what reflected in those pale eyes was an emotion one would not wish to see in someone so cunny and powerful.

Fear.

Ichigo nodded. "There was a piece of him within my soul. He's been there since the beginning, from the Shattered Shaft to Fake Karakura Town. But even though it was just a fragment, it was real enough and dangerous enough. He is out there, plotting and waiting. We don't have long before he makes his move."

Byakuya was quite fed up with being left in the dark, something was going on here and he wished to know what it was. He stepped forward and planned on interrogating Ichigo until he told him exactly what he had learned.

But before he could the Substitute turned to him.

"Captain Byakuya Kuchiki," Ichigo said aloud. "I have a request to make of you."

Byakuya was taken off guard, as actual surprise appeared on his face. Never before had he known Ichigo Kurosaki to be formal, to use of rank and honorific had always been discarded when conversing with the human youth. To even consider Ichigo using his Captain rank and saying his full name aloud was not what he expected was understatement.

But perhaps that was the point, what Ichigo knew had to be important. For him to disregard his own lack of deference and actually speak with respect and do something so out of character, only proved to Byakuya that what he knew was serious. "What do you require?"

"I need to go to the Soul Society and meet with the Captain-Commander. There are matters I need to discuss with him," Ichigo said with a grim expression. "Not the least of which is a threat that will engulf all the worlds in war."

* * *

This was unprecedented.

Something _must_ have occurred.

Night had fallen many hours ago, the crown had already been transitioned to him, but to be called to his Majesties side. Something had transpired, the night had yet to end but it seemed to be that the Emperor was awake before the new dawn came.

Jugrum Haschwalth pushed upon the door to His Majesty's personal chambers, the locks and seals upon the gilded surface opening before him. As they opened stepped forth, he entered the chamber and surveyed the dark room. It came to him as a surprise to see His Majesty sitting upon his throne, his brow resting in his hand and a far away look upon his face.

"Your Majesty, you summoned me," Haschwalth said, kneeling before the throne.

It took many minutes of waiting, for whatever had taken his mind away had not deigned itself ready to give him back his senses. Whatever it was that he thought of it must have been important, to be completely unresponsive was unlike the Emperor he had served for the last millennia.

Finally he let out a breath, giving a small huff as if laughing to a private little joke. "Disgraceful. That I allowed myself to get caught up in the moment. These poor souls came seeking to see what had disturbed me from my slumber, yet it was them who disturbed me."

Haschwalth turned towards the right, finding the broken bodies of several Quincy, personal attendants to guard while his Majesty slept. This was unexpected, but now that he realized the frantic nature of the attendant that had come his way, Haschwalth now understood her worry. For his Majesty to lash out, that was not normal.

"Your Majesty," Haschwalth asked cautiously. "What has happened?"

"Death. Death has finally sunk its teeth into me, I felt it. I felt the end." Haschwalth stared back, not understanding. "My fragment, the one that exists within Ichigo Kurosaki: it no longer exists. Ichigo has erased it."

"…He did _what_?" Haschwalth hesitated in shock as he let the enormity of what had just heard sink in. He tried to say something but words failed him. Instead he looked upon his master's face, and to his surprise saw an expression that resembled pride.

"Ichigo has exceeded my wildest expectations Haschwalth. To be able to best even a fragment of myself at the spiritual level, where I held the reigns and guided it. Truly incredible." Yhwach spoke almost reverently, as if this were a eulogy. "I may as well have been there personally, for in the end I felt its final moments, I felt every agonizing moment. I felt the terror, the shock of being so overwhelmed, I felt the pain of dying and then... then there was nothing."

Haschwalth swallowed slowly. The way his Majesty acted did not seem to fit the morbid way he spoke, he had to tread carefully to make sure his Majesty did not involuntarily lash out against him.

"Has—has anything like this ever happened before?" He asked even as he was sure of the answer.

Yhwach shook his head. "The silver that exists within all Quincy do not truly live, they are not their own beings or souls. They are but extensions of my will and the source of all my children's strength. Death is but a fleeting feeling that sense when they enter me, distance and minuscule compared to the lives they have lived and I take in." He looked back to Haschwalth and the captain of the Sternritter swore he saw a spark of fervor in his eyes. He looked energized and manic, more so than ever before.

"This was something I have never felt before. To feel death take me and know the end, it is as if I have been set free, that I no longer have to fear it. But move to fight back its grasp once more, to mock it for its failed attempt. This has been a gift, one that I intend to cherish. And as a reward, I will be putting Ichigo Kurosaki at the top of the list, as the Leader of the Special War Powers!" Yhwach declared, yet as Haschwalth noticed the excitement faded, the King rose from his throne. "... and yet there is a problem."

"A problem?" Haschwalth rose to his feet.

"With the Fragment no longer a part of him, what plans I had in store for him, what use he would have been in the future I saw is now tarnished. Of all the good that came from this action, there must always be this one unwanted complication. This complication threatens my vision succeeding considerably."

"If Ichigo has become more powerful than we originally predicted, then we should not simply attempt to capture him to harness that power," Haschwalth advised. "I assume your Majesty's time table for the invasion of Soul Society has not changed?"

"It has not."

"Then why not look towards finding a way to test Ichigo without directly revealing ourselves," The Sternritter captain offered. "Soul Society believes the Quincy to be a near extinct race. We should assume that Ichigo is now aware of your existence and has some idea of our forces. Even if he were to warn the Gotei with this incomplete knowledge, as we long as remain faithful to the plan then our victory against the Shinigami should be assured."

Yhwach took those words to consideration. "Yamamoto has become soft in his old age. Even if Ichigo does warn them, how many will actually believe such a threat? Fear of the truth was always one of their weaknesses, for they never did like knowing that they were not as powerful as they believed."

"It will take time and while we have that time, we can deploy our other assets against him to test his strength," Haschwalth stated.

Yhwach sniffed disdainfully at that. "You know as well as I that the Arrancar are no better than cannon fodder. Useful against the Shinigami they will face in the streets of the Seireitei, but against Ichigo they would be lambs to the slaughter. All of the most powerful Arrancar that Aizen had gathered are either dead, captured like the 'Queen of Hueco Mundo' or hiding under a rock. Their souls might have power but…"

"Your Majesty?" Haschwalth noticed the stare in his Majesty's eyes as he understood that he was constructing a plan.

"Yes... why not?" Yhwach mused, a grin forming on his lips. "If the broken fragment could pull a piece, what stops me from doing better?" He looked back at his other half. "Haschwalth, please find Gremmy and bring him before me."

"Of course, sire. But may I ask why?"

The sinister grin on the Seal King's face did not faze him. "I have a theory I would like to discuss with him and if it pans out, then I will have orders for you to carry out. Orders that require action to be taken in the World of the Living."


	7. Important Discussions

**Author's Notes: It's been a bit longer since the last update but the last three months have been stressful to say the least.** **My father went into the hospital for a routine procedure but underwent major cardiac surgery.** **The operation was successful but he spent nearly three weeks in the hospital recovering before the doctors discharged him. Since his return home, we've all been helping him and he is getting better every day.**

 **Having the opportunity to go to Wrestlemania last week at MetLife Stadium helped take my mind off of my troubles. A surprise gift by my family that I am treasuring for everything it was.**

 **Some people have asked me if I'll be incorporating things we have learned from Can't Fear Your Own World Novels for this story. All I will say is that I'll be keeping an open mind as I am slowly reading through it at the moment. I'll be looking forward to how the novels are being adapted in game for Bleach Brave Souls.**

 **I thank you all for your support and I encourage you all to leave reviews. I truly do wish to know what you think of my work.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

 **The Awful Truth**

 **Chapter 7: Important Discussions**

It has been a while since she had been here, back at the Shoten and to the home away from home. About two months actually, not a long stretch of time but after so long wandering and also having stayed here for some months during the Winter War, it was actually difficult to be away.

She wasn't one to be overly sentimental and emotional when it came to things, but she certainly did have a fondness for the Shoten and the people in it. After a while away, even if it was a vacation and for an important mission, it was good to be home.

Although she had come following the return of the advance team sent to apprehend Ginjo. They had said a few things that had concerned her, right now she was on her way back to try and see what had happened. She knew little of what went down, but Byakuya had remained behind, and the rest had been very quiet or muttering nonsense she did not understand.

As she threw open the door she walked inside, finding the main store front empty. Funnily that was to be expected, now and at any time of the day. Ignoring the small mirth in her stomach she moved to the back, and as she passed some of the side rooms she noticed a few people within.

Tessai was the first she recognized, the other faces came to her slowly. He was watching over Ichigo's two sisters, Karin and Yuzu, along with his friends, Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuru, she recalled it from memory. Unlike that dumb lug she could remember a person's name without any issue.

Walking inside she caught the old Kido Corp Commanders attention, he gave her a nod of greeting and didn't say a word. But he did motioned towards the other side of the room, and looking she found the unconscious forms of Orihime and Sado – along with an unknown maroon haired woman she did not recognize.

Things had turned out quite bad it seemed. This wasn't how things were meant to go down.

Turning back to Tessai she mouthed 'Kisuke' to him, and she was given a jerk of the thumb to down the hall and with two fingers on his left hand. He was two doors down to the left, she gave her thanks and moved to find her partner in crime.

She opened the door and found in against the far wall, sitting on a chair, looking as pensive as she had ever seen him.

"What's going on Kisuke?" She asked, walking inside and closing the door behind her.

"That is as loaded a question as any," Kisuke replied, lifting his head and resting his chin on the top of his cane. "Sufficed to say, the shit has well and truly hit the fan."

Before she could even enquire what he meant by that, Yoruichi felt the ground beneath her feet shake. _An earthquake?_ She thought before discarding. _No, not that. But something underground..._

"I wouldn't go downstairs any time just yet," Kisuke spoke up. "Isshin isn't finished venting his frustrations just yet."

"Isshin?" She asked, her voice showing her surprise clearly. "Kisuke, what the hell happened?"

He looked up at her, Yoruichi felt dread creep into her heart. Kisuke had a lot of tells, often it helped her tell what kind of mood he was in and how serious something was. This look here, the one that sent a shiver up her spine, it was a rare one that she had only recognized from memory.

Whenever Kisuke gave the look he was giving her now, nothing good was sure to follow.

* * *

Isshin breathed deeply, sucking in huge mouthfuls of air, on one knee as he held Engetsu as a bracing tool. He looked over the utter destruction he had caused to the area around him. He had practically leveled any standing structure, caused gashes and created crevices in the ground, but he could care less about the damage or the amount of work Tessai would do to repair it.

There would be more damage had he bothered to leave his Gigai, but perhaps that was for the best. A human body had its limits, made it harder for him to keep up, a little limitation to prevent him from caving this place in was probably a good idea.

Kisuke told him to go down stairs and vent his emotions till it was all out of his system.

And now he had done exactly that.

 _I had nightmares about this, Feared it could happen, but I never wished for it to be true. Why the hell did it have to be_ _ **worse**_ _that what I feared?_ Isshin swore, his head sagging as he shook his head, gripping his Zanpakuto tightly he pushed himself up. _I knew that I would never see Masaki again; not in the Soul Society, not anywhere. But to think, that the peaceful oblivion she would have had if she had died to a Hollow was more kind that what she went through now. I shouldn't be surprised. I knew that Hollow didn't kill her, just didn't know she was still suffering._

He had known what happened to Quincy when they die at the hands of a Hollow. Masaki had told him as such many years ago. Why they do what they do and why it is important, Kisuke had even backed up the claim with his own research. A Quincy's soul simply erodes when in contact with a Hollow, erodes until it passes on into Oblivion.

Isshin believed that her death at the hands of Grand Fisher marked the end of her life. It did, and her afterlife was not the perpetuity of nothingness as he first thought, it was hell.

What his son had told him, things about the Quincy that none of them knew. He managed to keep his emotions under control, just long enough for his son to leave. He didn't want to show any of what he felt to him, not when he was going to in front of the Gotei to convince them of the threat of a man long thought dead posed to them all.

 _We should have known. But we did, didn't we? Damn it all! I should have known something was wrong with all of this! Souls don't just disappear!_ Isshin thought furiously. No matter how much he tried, it seemed like he could not help but fail his wife. He had vowed to protect her for the rest of her life, he could never stop her from doing something reckless and bold. He would always be ready to jump in to help, but this was simply out of his control.

"Are you done, Isshin?"

Kisuke's voice brought him out of his self-recrimination as he rose to his feet and turned to face not just him but Yoruichi, who wore a solemn expression on her face.

"I'm sorry."

A rare thing to see from her, the Goddess of Flash was not one for emotional talks, very insular and professional when it came to personnel matters. Only Kisuke could get her to crack open her shell, and that often resulted in a volatile response. She could crack a joke and pull a prank easy, but getting personnel with her was never an easy thing.

The former captain simply nodded his head. "Thank you."

"I do not know what to make of this, I did not think this would happen when I went to the Soul Society," Yoruichi said bitterly. Logically, she knew there was nothing her presence could have done affect things. The issue with Ginjo maybe, but this new threat set upon them by a legendary figure thought to be a former bad memory? Not so much.

"To be fair, none of us could have foreseen this," Kisuke said gravely. Even with what he had knew about the Sealed King, Urahara had hoped that given the war he waged with the Captain Commander that he had truly fallen in battle. Yet the legend that Masaki had told them all about his eventual return, it had always left a nagging feeling in his mind.

"We should have suspected something, we know how the Cycle of Transmigration works. Souls don't just disappear, we should have suspected that they go somewhere," Isshin returned, he took a breath and then let it out slowly. "But dwelling on the past won't help Masaki."

Yoruichi narrowed her eyes when she saw the look in Isshin's face, reminding her of a much younger individual that usually worse such an expression. "Please don't tell me you aren't thinking of doing something stupid."

"Wanting to drive Engetsu through the bastard's heart isn't the same as wanting to run off on a vendetta to kill him," Isshin frowned. "Ichigo can take care of himself, but I still have two little girls that are absolutely defenseless and perfect targets if he chooses to go after Yuzu and Karin. I'm not leaving them alone. Not with what I know now."

The sound of Kisuke clearing his throat could be heard. "Ahem. In the spirit of total transparency, I need to ask. Do you know what your eldest daughter has been doing, Isshin?"

At that moment, Isshin turned on Urahara with an angered look. "Kisuke. What did you do with Karin?"

"She's been coming to me for the last few months, picking up items from my shop to repel spirits and Hollows. And before you say I was being irresponsible, I had Jinta and Ururu trail her every time she left my shop with purchases," Kisuke assured him. "Just as you wanted to protect your son, she wanted to be able to protect her brother when he had no powers; even while hers had gotten stronger. Not enough to become a Shinigami, but give her time and she might just reach it."

Isshin let out a sigh. Ever since the end of the Winter War, he had taken the peace that had resulted to be the new normal of their lives. Spiritual activity had dropped by more than half of what it had been and Hollows seemed limited to the very weak kind. Nothing close to Gillian class Menos came through Karakura since Ichigo lost his powers fighting Aizen. He had taken to the peace well, wanting his family to have the normal life that he and Masaki had always wanted them to have, free of supernatural events.

The universe it seemed had other ideas. Something from a long time ago always seems to pop up and rear its ugly head to torment them.

"You may not like it, but you should consider coming clean to some degree with your daughters about what is to come," Kisuke advised.

"Maybe," Isshin allowed finally, while fixing a firm glare. "But I will really kill you if you even suggest putting them into the war that is to come. Once Ichigo tells the Gotei of Yhwach's revival, we'll be lucky if the fighting doesn't end up literally at our doorsteps."

Before Kisuke could even reply, Yoruichi hung her head, letting out a sigh. "Way to hope for the best case, Isshin." She said, raising her head to look at them with a serious look about her. "You're just assuming Ichigo will be able to convince the Captain Commander that the warlord he personally killed a thousand years ago never really died and has been plotting in secret ever since to take his revenge with an army of Quincy."

"Are you actually thinking my son is lying?" Isshin questioned.

"No. Ichigo doesn't have the capacity to lie convincingly, but that's not my point," Yoruichi clarified. "We all know the type of person Yamamoto is. He may have not been so resistant with restoring Ichigo's powers, but this is different. For him to be faced with the concept that Yhwach is alive, after all Yamamoto lost in the Quincy War a thousand years ago, it would absolutely go against everything he's believed in, everything he has achieved ever since that victory."

Neither man said anything but Kisuke was in silent agreement. Knowing his former commander, and the war that had been waged a millennia ago and the collateral damage left in the wake of said war, it would be anything but easy to convince him of this truth.

"Besides Yamamoto isn't the only one that is not going to take this news seriously. He isn't the only head honcho in the Soul Society that would not take to this news lightly," Yoruichi stated, making sure that they knew exactly who she was talking about.

Isshin watched Urahara give off an irritated huff, as if he had forgotten something. Isshin himself wasn't sure what the issue was. Ever since Aizen had killed Central 46, Yamamoto had control over the Soul Society until... "...Damn it."

"How bad are we talking here?" Kisuke asked.

"Central 46 has been fully restored for a few months now. Yamamoto has lost all judiciary power he held while they were rebuilding. Sad to say these guys are not like the predecessors that Aizen murdered off. They are new to power, and like flaunting themselves whenever the chance comes. They do not like people not going along with their rulings."

"They want to show off their strength," Kisuke said in distaste. "Want to make sure that now they are back in power they can enforce it."

"Even if Ichigo can do the impossible, they're going to make an example out of Yamamoto just to make themselves look big," Yoruichi stated. "Things are going to get worse before they get better."

* * *

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was an old man, even by the standards of the long lived nobility and Captains of the Gotei. He had lived for millennia, seen Soul Society transformed many times over those thousands of years, both part of that change or simply watching it come. Fighting wars, for petty, good, wrong, and just causes, he would not have wished for anyone to face so many conflicts in their lifetime. But it was his duty, along with the Gotei's, to take up arms in the defense of the Soul Society.

Honor and pride demanded it, the world existed out of this necessity to ensure that it would not be thrown into chaos. Blood must be shed to keep the scales balanced, and all debts must be settled.

Sometimes what is necessary comes at the price of honor and pride, but sometimes it is the opposite.

Honor and pride were the reason he agreed to restore Ichigo Kurosaki's powers, as well as settle the issue once and for all with Ginjo Kugo. Given his stubbornness not to break the laws of the Soul Society, he went against his obligations and the necessity of balance to repay someone for their services to the balance.

In the past he would forgo such things, but the actions of Ichigo Kurosaki demanded that something be done. Yamamoto was of the same opinion as Lieutenant Kuchiki, that Ichigo Kurosaki would not falter. That he would choose to remain loyal to the Gotei. However that did not mean he was certain the outcome, hence why he sent several Captains to do make sure.

Hours later, those he had sent had returned... most of them. It was the first sign he knew that something had not gone as according to predictions. Captain Hitsugaya informed him that Ginjo was in fact dead; the fact that Lieutenant Abarai had brought his corpse had proved that much. Ichigo had in fact remained loyal and had delivered the killing blow. However Captain and Lieutenant Kuchiki were not with them. The Squad Ten Captain had told him before they could restore Kurosaki's powers, Ginjo's second attempted to kill him. He would have succeeded, had the former substitute not manifested a sword to block the attempt.

Yamamoto had to take only a look at how Zaraki's face took an eager grin to know that there had been something else within the boy that they had not been aware of. Even Captain Hitsugaya's attempt to tell him he did not wish to speculate until Captain Kuchiki returned with all of the details did not deter him. He demanded to know what Kurosaki manifested if it was not his Fullbring.

He could respect them not falling to suspicion and falsehood, but he knew that they withheld not out of such courtesy. Instead they withheld it if only to offer some form of protection for Ichigo Kurosaki, long enough for this matter to be cleared. He had no time for their feelings to overrule their judgment, he demanded answers and he would not be denied them.

When he was told what it was, he commanded all of them remain silent on the matter and speak to no one. He then dismissed them and secluded himself within his office. He preferred this space where he could look down upon all of the Seireitei and contemplate in peace.

As of now, he was contemplating what in the name of the Soul King was Isshin Shiba thinking? He knew he had broken rules by having children in the World of the Living. Those transactions could be forgiven given what his son had done to contribute to Soul Society.

But to learn Shiba had married a _Quincy_? That flew in the face of everything he had stood for. Everything he had fought against. Especially during those dark days.

The formation of this order of Shinigami were founded on a single war, one that had the driving force that had united and forged the Soul Society into a cohesive force. The Shinigami before the formations of the Thirteen Court Guard Squad had been a disorganized force of warriors aligned to multiple houses.

They vied for power and control, infighting amongst the lesser nobility was common, even amongst the High Houses and Great Nobility was not uncommon. But he changed that, forcing change where it was needed so that they could face the greatest threat to the Balance in all recorded history. A thousand years ago marked the truest and more pure time where the Soul Society had ever been unified and under a single banner.

No longer fighting one another, struggling for power, instead cooperating for the good of the Soul Society. That had been the Golden Age of the Soul Society, one that has lost its shine and brilliance but still lingered.

Yet it was marked with tragedy, death and carnage that he looked back upon with some regret. Time changes people and makes one reflect on their past actions, he was too old now to make up for the many years he did wrong. The only solace that the unification brought was that it made it clear to him the misery that he had caused in his younger years and the callous nature of himself.

Sometimes he wished those times would leave him be, that they would simply faded like all other memories.

"Captain-Commander! Captain Kuchiki and Lieutenant Kuchiki have returned!" The messenger was near the door, so engrossed in his own musing Yamamoto did not hear him enter.

"Good," Yamamoto uttered. "Are the two of them on their way here?"

"They are, but... someone else is with them," the messenger slowly responded, becoming nervous as he saw Yamamoto turn slowly towards him and look directly at him.

"Someone else? Who?"

* * *

Renji had been waiting for a good few hours, he lost track of time but with the sun now rising in the east he knew that he had been sitting on these steps for the last six hours. Frightfully boring, but he was determined to fight down such things as he waited for his Captain to return.

He wanted to know what happened in the World of the Living, there a lot going on back there and he had been forced to return rather than stay behind. It irked him to not know what was going on with Ichigo, more was going on than he realized.

But he would get his time now; he could see his Captain walking towards the steps. Renji leapt to his feet, ignoring the small sense of vertigo that came when you stood up so fast and his bones and muscles complaining of sudden movement. Surprisingly his Captain and best friend were not the only ones to return, but a certain Substitute.

"What are you doing here, Ichigo?" Renji asked, was he actually going to talk to the Captains at large about what had happened.

"Ichigo Kurosaki is here to bring issues of importance to light," Byakuya stated, his stride not stopping as they walked up the steps. "I will be standing as his witness in these proceedings."

"His what?" Renji blinked, staring once more at how scarily calm both his captain and Ichigo were. It was to him a contradiction. "I don't understand."

"Rukia will explain it to you as you make your way," Byakuya replied. "For now, I need you to help her."

"Help her with what?"

"My brother has already given him his symbol of authority," Rukia said simply. "We need to access the Kuchiki Family Archives on a matter of great importance." She turned back to Ichigo. "Good luck."

Renji saw as Ichigo simply nodded, the entire scenario being utterly too formal and quiet, which when you considered who Ichigo was went against the grain. He hadn't even realized Rukia had been dragging him away until he had gone nearly thirty feet. "Rukia what the hell! Seriously what the hell did you—"

"Renji."

He froze, hearing that dead tone of voice from Rukia made him look into her eyes and he saw a sadness he hadn't seen in them for a long time. Not since she had been condemned to death by Aizen's manipulations. "How bad is it?" he finally asked.

"If Ichigo is right, and I believe he is, we are looking at facing a conflict that will make the Winter War seem like a pair of children fighting in a sand box."

Renji had nothing else to say. Instead he opted to simply walk and listen as Rukia began to lay out the entire sordid story.

* * *

Haschalth returned to the throne room as he was summoned. He found Yhwach sitting on his throne, his fingers intertwined as he leaned back against the seat. He seemed to be contemplating something important, what it was Jugrum did not know, but whatever forced such scrutiny from his Majesty had to be important.

"Your Majesty, did the plan succeed?" Jugrum inquired.

Yhwach simply smiled. "They are still underway. I've already tasked Gremmy with beginning trial runs on this endeavor. He is quite eager to try this experiment. Quilge has provided a great deal of test subjects. But for the true test, I have tasked Lille in providing him with the necessary material he will need."

"Will this affect our forces much?" Haschalth asked. The initial testing required disposable subjects that wouldn't affect their forces greatly. But for the true test it would require sacrificing valuable resources.

"Not for the first candidate I have in mind. Should it truly prove successful, then we shall see how we utilize this new resource," Yhwach replied, rising from his throne. "In the mean time, I told you before that if talks went well, I would need action to be taken in the World of the Living."

He walked past the Grandmaster, while giving no motion for him to follow Haschalth knew when to follow and when to remain where he was. It was almost instinct that he knew when his Majesty wished for his presence and when not. They were linked after all, two sides of the same coin.

"What are your orders, Your Majesty?" Haschwalth humbly asked, walking in step his with Majesty.

"Of the Arrancar we have conscripted, how many are not only ready to face someone of at least a Lieutenant Class Shinigami, but are eager to prove themselves to me?"

"Of both requirements, roughly a dozen," Haschwalth stated. "The strongest we have captured have yet to be fully converted, despite our best efforts. Although the Jagdarmee are still hunting down remnants of the Arrancar in Hueco Mundo, reports come that there are more casualties than captures however. Unless the orders have changed I do not know how many of Tier Halibel's followers will be conscripted into the vanguard before the day of the assault."

"I only need one. Make sure he's sufficient for testing the potential of someone of Captain level," Yhwach said to which he saw his other half blink in confusion.

"But you have said it yourself sire. None of the Arrancar could possibly test Ichigo's skill as he is now," Jugram stated, only to see the smile on the King's lips.

"I never said it was Ichigo that needs to be tested," Yhwach replied. "I do have after all more than one son in the World of the Living."

* * *

He pulled his glasses from his eyes and wiped them down, he was still sweating. Six hours in surgery was starting to become a nuisance, his hands were cramping up and he kept sweating. Age was never a kind mistress, slowly witling you down until she entombed you beneath the earth.

Morbidity was something of a character trait with doctors, they often tried to joke and laugh at the dark nature of life so it wouldn't affect you so. He knew better, and his own humor has long been unbalanced and tainted. Still he was not old enough to be complaining of sore joints and stiffness, although it was irritating that he was getting less accustomed to the long hours he was pulling.

As he entered his office he reached for a chair and took a seat, he would need to file out the paperwork for his recent patient and then head home. He started scribbling down the details, all the while ignoring the obvious presence in the room with him.

"Is sloppiness your new thing, Uryu?" Ryuken Ishida casually said, turning his head to the left, seeing his son glare at him, his back against the wall. "I could feel your presence long before I walked into the room."

"Yhwach."

The moment the words left his son's mouth, he couldn't help himself. His fingers clenched and his pen creaked and nearly broke, he turned his hard eyes towards his son and watched him closely.

"So, Ichigo's father was right. You and grandfather did remove him from the records," Uryu responded coolly. "There really is a 'God of All Quincy'. A being who from which all Quincy gain their powers from."

"Isshin has no business telling you anything about the Quincy," Ryuken replied in a terse tone.

"Why not? You certainly won't and it wasn't Isshin who first mentioned Yhwach," Uryu retorted, standing up straight now, narrowing his eyes further at his father. "It was Ichigo. My _cousin_ awakened to his Quincy heritage."

That took Ryuken off guard. Not just the fact that his son knew his familial relation to the Kurosaki family but that Masaki's son had somehow awakened his ancestral heritage. However he did not show it.

"It happened during his fight with Ginjo and his Fullbringers. A lot of other things happened but as you do not care for anything but the living, I'll skip ahead to the important part," Uryu said with acidity in his tone. "Ichigo fought against a fragment of Yhwach that was in his soul and he won, but not before he learned his mother was murdered by him nine years ago. On June 17."

It was there for a moment on his face but even as Ryuken tried not to show anything he knew he had failed. No matter how long ago it was that date was etched into his soul and memory, it would never pass and neither would all the other raging emotions within his heart.

"I remember that day so well for what it means to me. It was the last day I spoke to Mother," Uryu said softly, emotion showing in his voice. "I was playing with her at home, just a simple board game. You remember how much she liked playing them."

"I don't need you to remind me of what my wife did."

Uryu bristled at that but continued on. "She talked about going with me to school the next day when suddenly a blue light was shining over us and then... and then she fell down head first into the floor. I tried to wake her up but she wouldn't respond. I called you and I told you everything that happened, but you told me I was just a boy and was making things up. That she had just fainted and hit her head badly. That it was just a terrible accident that no one could have predicted."

Seeing his father's emotionless expression only further angered Uryu, whose fist clenched. "But you knew I wasn't imagining anything. You knew ever since mother fell into a coma who was responsible. And if you didn't then, you certainly knew when you cut in to her body when you preformed her autopsy!" Nothing but silence. " _Damn you! Tell me the truth!"_

"It's called Auswählen," Ryuken said in a coldly detached manner. "As an extension of his ability to distribute pieces of his soul to others, Yhwach can forcibly take the power of other Quincy. He did this nine years ago to regain his power in preparation for his full revival. That which he takes, he makes it his own. Every Quincy left in this world save for myself was what he considered impure, and thus not worthy of living any further."

"And if that's true then why am I still alive?" Uryu asked. "You were pure blooded, mother was mixed."

"Because you are _worthless_ to him."

Uryu blinked hard at the utter condemnation by his father. "Excuse me?"

"You have no talent as a Quincy. You fail repeatedly. You come so close to death over and over again. I would have thought this last experience with those Fullbringers would have woken you up but it hasn't," Ryuken stated. "Even when you sought my father for training, I forbade him from teaching you as he taught me."

"You have sabotaged my training from the start?" Uryu felt the anger grow within him. "It makes no sense! You helped me restore them after I lost them due to the Sanrei Glove!"

"Only so you could see the futility of your actions. You have no talent and no skill. You would die in the supernatural world. That is why I have tried to force it upon you to live as a normal human being because that world holds nothing but suffering and that only the living matter." Ryuken said, moving forward and inches away from his son. "There is no point in any of this. Using your powers only strengthens Yhwach. If you actually want to be useful, then just accept you are weak, that you have no place in the world of a Quincy. Move forward with your life as a human being and focus on the living. They are what matters."

For the longest of moments, Ryuken thought his son would actually strike him. He certainly looked angry enough. Instead, Uryu unclenched his fists, looked his father dead in the eyes, and spoke, "And how exactly do I move forward, when I know my mother, my grandparents, that every single member of our family that has come before us, all of their **_souls_** are all part of Yhwach?"

Ryuken eyes widened at the statement, his stoicism slipped, and he actually fumbled with his words. "W-what did you say?"

"So, there's something the Last Quincy doesn't know?" Uryu said. "Allow me to tell you what my cousin told me. For every Quincy that dies, their souls do not go an afterlife nor are they destroyed. Instead they share the same fate as the Hollows we kill. Yhwach gains them. They are trapped within him for all eternity!"

Ryuken stood there silent as a statue, unmoving and unspeaking. Uryu looked at him in disgust. "You call me worthless. That I am nothing more than a failure. But what about you, Ryuken? You are a failure, in every possible way. Perhaps I am not as 'gifted' as you are, but I am not a coward. I am not going to stick my head in the sand, ignoring the world around me and trying to just 'move forward' as you put it. Ichigo has gone to Soul Society to convince the Gotei of Yhwach's existence. He hopes to gain their support but even if they don't I know him well enough to know that Ichigo going to wage war on Yhwach. I want you to know Ryuken that I will be right there with him, if only so I can beat him to putting an arrow through the bastard's heart myself!"

Ryuken felt his son shove right past him, hearing the door to his office slam with enough force the glass nearly cracked. But that didn't matter. He stayed still till he could hear nothing, his mind a whirlwind of thought and memory. He walked slowly to the desk and took a seat, looked across the table with only a few items of importance to him.

But the most important of all, a sapphire pendant that had belonged to his wife, which had been passed down from mother to daughter for nearly a thousand years. A pendant that he could not bear to bury with his wife's body because it was the only thing he had left of her that didn't feel tainted by what he knew of how she died.

Without a single word, he dropped his head into his hand with the pendant wrapped around it. His other hand was grasping his hair and threatening to pull it out. "... Damn it... Damn it all..." his voice barely a whisper as he let the anger he had deep within out. But more than that, he felt something wet come down his right cheek. _A tear?_ He had not shed any in nearly nine years. Not since he was alone over his wife's grave. Not since he made the promise.

A promise had utterly failed to uphold.

 _Kanae, I am sorry. I'm so sorry. I tried to protect our son, but all I've done has been the exact opposite. All I've done is fail repeatedly_ , Ryuken grieved for a moment. _Isshin, you damn fool. After all these years, you truly were the one who was right all along and then perhaps, I have truly been the fool all long._

* * *

"How do I make them believe me?"

Byakuya looked back to Ichigo who had stopped as they were nearly at the Squad One Headquarters. "You are asking me for advice?"

"I need to convey a lot to them, I know I rub people to wrong way sometimes, and that causes them to doubt me. I can't let that happen here, not now, not even for a moment. He has caused so much suffering and he plans to cause so much more, if we waste time more lives are lost." Ichigo stated. "He has taken so many souls, my mother included, for his own ends. He has to be stopped." He looked Byakuya in the eyes, absolutely serious. "How do I convince them to wage war against an enemy I know is there but I can't prove exists?"

"… if you are asking me if you should forgo your usual tone and adopt a dialogue similar to my own, don't," Byakuya stated. "Be as you have always been. You have changed so much in this world just by being who you are, regardless of what we now know. And as far as proof goes, your blade is enough to open the door, assuming what Urahara Kisuke said about the Captain-Commander and Yhwach is accurate."

Ichigo took a deep breath, calming himself and reassuring himself that he would only need to watch his words so far, he nodded to himself, he was ready. He would have continued moving towards the doors had it not been for something else said.

"I understand what it feels like, to lose a parent to an enemy." The young man looked back to the solemn faced captain. "Decades ago, my father was killed in an attack against a horde of hollows. He was only a lieutenant, but my grandfather told me he fought worthy of his position as the heir to our clan."

Ichigo was silent to this, being respectful. It wasn't the same as what had been done to his mother. Byakuya's father had died in battle, his mother died because a monster deemed it 'necessary'. But they had died trying to protect people and that was something Ichigo could understand. "Thank you."

They walked up to the front entrance of the Division, and to his surprise Ichigo saw his own Visored friend Kensei. His hair had grown out slightly and he was back wearing the traditional grab of the Shinigami, along with having a Captain's haori over his shoulders.

"Kensei," Ichigo spoke aloud, voicing his surprise.

"About time you got here, where the hell have you been?" His gruff tone shining through.

"Just got here, good to see you again, I see that you are a Captain now," Ichigo said.

"He's not the only one," Shinji Hirako popped around the corner, followed by Rose, both of them garbed in the uniform of a Captain. It would seem that in the wake of the Winter War the Visored had regained their positions.

"Is everyone else here?" Ichigo asked.

"Nah, apart from the three of us only Mashiro came back with us. The others didn't want anything to do with it. Also they didn't want to have crappy jobs anyway," Shinji waved off, seemingly uninterested in discussing it.

"Stop the chit-chat, the Captain-Commander called us all here for a reason. So get your ass in there so we can get told what is going on." Kensei said, jerking his thumb to the door.

"Jeez, no patience," Shinji muttered, before waving forward. He was about to walk in when he caught sight of someone walking towards them that they were not expecting.

Nemu Kurotsuchi stopped short of Ichigo, and proceeded to bow respectfully before them. "Captain Kurotsuchi is unable to attend this meeting, but given Ichigo Kurosaki's presence, it felt prudent to attend."

"Okay," Shinji said, uninterested before he turned around and walked inside to First Division Barracks.

Ichigo followed, through a few winding pathways before arriving at the Captains meeting hall, where Ichigo found all the Captains save for Ukitake waiting for them. All were lined up and waiting, Shinji, Rose and Kensei took their positions, it seems that they had regained their former positions. Nemu took a space in the back, being an observer but not a participant in this meeting. Byakuya however remained by his side.

"Captain Kuchiki, please take your position with your fellow captains," the Captain-Commander ordered.

"With respect, I am here today as Ichigo Kurosaki's witness, Captain-Commander," Byakuya responded, drawing some surprised stares from the other Captains.

Ichigo had little idea on the importance of him standing beside him during this meeting, he appreciated the gesture. It was not obvious but the man had his back on many occasions, and as much as they got on each other's nerves at time Ichigo could count of Byakuya. It surprised others sometimes, as obviously with the Captains looking at them with obvious befuddlement.

Most didn't know the kind of relationship they had, or thought it to be something else entirely.

Yamamoto narrowed his eyes before focusing back onto Ichigo. "It would seem as if you have something to say before us, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Several, actually," Ichigo replied. "But before I get the issue you want to know, I want to discuss something else. Something that has bothered me."

"And what is that?" the Captain Commander asked.

"You ordered the Captains that came to observe me to retrieve Ginjo's body," Ichigo stated. "When we are done here, I would like for you to return it to me, so that I can properly bury him in the World of the Living."

"…are you stupid?" Ichigo turned to regard Shinji, he had crossed his arms as he asked the question. "Do you even know what you are asking for? After what he did to you, to your family, how can you even think of forgiving him?"

"It's not about forgiveness. It's about basic decency," After speaking those words, seeing he had the attention of the captains focused on him, he elaborated. "I'm alive. My friends and family are back to normal. And Ginjo, he's just a mere Substitute Shinigami."

"That mere substitute killed several Shinigami and has a list of crimes attached to his name," Soi Fon began to state. "How can you say—"

"He paid for his crimes with his life. That's where it _ends_ ," Ichigo said, fixing the Captain with a glare. "Perpetuating the cycle of violence and hatred after you've already taken his life is meaningless, especially when there are worse threats to deal with."

Soi Fon growled at the disrespect shown to her yet a look by the Captain Commander told her not to respond. This conversation was leading down the path he needed to go, he had made his case and now he was onto the matter at hand. No point in wasting time on debating.

"Can we take your words as a result of considering the ramifications," Yamamoto asked, his eyes narrowed. "In spite of what has been witnessed by those Captains I sent to aid you?"

"Screw the ramifications," Ichigo waved off, even as he understood in spite of the remark. In fact, he couldn't have asked for a better lead in. "I simply wish to do that for him as a fellow Substitute Shinigami," he said as he held out his right hand. "For that is what I will continue to be," and then focused his power into his outstretched hand and his Quincy Blade materialized in it. "Regardless of what blood runs through my veins."

From this point forward, there was no turning back.

* * *

 _You really decided to just come out and admit it,_ Toshiro Hitsugaya thought as he stared at the weapon he had only seen from a distance. Seeing the sword, the symbol and its power only confirmed the feelings he had he first saw Ichigo fighting Ginjo before Rukia restored his Shinigami powers. Still, he was surprised and it showed. How could someone hold Shinigami, Hollow and Quincy powers all at once? It defied logic, but then again that was what Kurosaki was good at; defying expectations.

He looked over his fellow captains, noticing several of them showed some surprise, more so than others. Looking forward, he could see Kenpachi grinning even more like a madman than usual. The fact that Ichigo only had more power than before only made the battle hungry captain more intent satisfying his urge for combat with Ichigo.

Soi Fon seemed to have gone quiet; her expression was cold and professional. Toshiro knew she was thinking on this development, she was often the one to go to for threat assessment when it comes to the Gotei's enemies. Right now, she was considering the possibility, as was expected of a member of the Stealth Force.

Shunsui had a bemused look on his face, but the fact he seemed to be taking this in stride wasn't unexpected. He was the most laid back of them all.

The rest, he couldn't say he understood their thoughts on this revelation, his more experienced comrades were unreadable. The new Captains that had recently replaced Aizen, Tosen and Ichimaru were unknown to him. It would only be in time that their thoughts would be heard.

"It doesn't matter if I have Quincy blood running through me. I am a Substitute Shinigami and I am your ally for as long as you will have me," Ichigo said in a firm tone, looking over the captains. Yet Toshiro also knew that Ichigo was trying to reassure them, to make sure they realized that he was still on their side, no matter the circumstances. "And believe me, you will want me as your ally in the days to come."

"What do you mean by that?" Yamamoto rumbled. That statement had almost everyone wondering what the Substitute meant by that statement.

Everyone except Byakuya. _What in the world have done now Kurosaki?_ Toshiro asked himself.

He watched as Ichigo took a breath for a moment and then spoke addressing Yamamoto directly as he did. "A thousand years ago, you didn't finish the job. You didn't kill _him_."

There was a vagueness of his statement that few understood, some hint of suspicion and understanding passed by those who were present. The older Shinigami specifically, but they also held some doubt in their stares. But only the Captain Commander held a different emotion, his fist was clenched as his cane began to creak within his grip.

"I've seen him, inside my own soul. He has been there since the day I was born. He is out there planning and he has got revenge on his mind, and you are in his sights," Ichigo announced. "Yhwach is alive."

 _Yhwach?_ Toshiro blinked, the name absolutely alien to him. Yet he had picked up on the Captain Commander's position. Everyone could hear the cracking of Yamamoto's cane, splintering around his fingers, but it did not break. Although he maintained his silence as he slowly composed himself.

It was noticeable, although if one looked beyond their Captain-Commander they would see he was not the only one affected by those three words.

Shunsui and Unohana had noticeable reactions to this news, the latter more so than the former. Shock was not common enough to appear on these two veteran captains faces, surprise wasn't so uncommon, but outright shock was not. The news had shaken them, and that in of itself was call for concern.

"That—that is impossible!" Yamamoto decried. "He could not have survived! I fought him myself, my blade was what ended him! He is dead!"

"Do you believe I would come here, speak of a name that practically no one else here knows if it were otherwise?" Ichigo countered.

"I myself had not heard of this King of the Quincy until only hours ago," Byakuya added, stepping forward to stand side by side with Ichigo. "Not once had I read or heard anything in the history of Soul Society of this man."

"The reasons for that are not important," Yamamoto stated.

"I think it is," Byakuya responded, "Given that my House guards the history of the Soul Society. I can name every head of the Noble houses dating back to the founding. I know every major event that has ever transpired in the Soul Society, and I have not _heard_ of Yhwach or his involvement with the formation of the Gotei 13."

There was a tense silence between the Sixth Division Captain and the Captain-Commander, this was becoming a matter of pride it seemed. One had no knowledge of a major player in the formation of the Gotei 13 when his house was meant to safeguard and know the history of the entire Soul Society. The other had forged one of the greatest military forces in the history of the Soul Society had seemed to hide the evidence of the enemy that had united that military.

"Yhwach's existence was removed on order of Central 46. Orders given not to speak of it after the War had ended." Yamamoto finally replied, but he did not give any further clarification.

"That was a mistake," Ichigo said as he narrowed his eyes. "You gave him ambiguity."

"I gave him nothing!"

In all the time he has spent attending meetings as a Captain, Toshiro had never seen the Captain-Commander show this much emotion, or rather a lack of control.

"I used all my strength and power to wipe him from the world. I used my Bankai within the World of the Living. My actions came at great cost and saw to untold destruction that saw to the end of an empire, hundreds of thousands died in the wake of my battle." Yamamoto glared at Ichigo, daring him to contradict his words. "But he was the one that died at the edge of my blade!"

Anyone else would have buckled under that pressure but Ichigo simply stood there, with no doubt in his eyes and grim visage. "You have been playing into his hands for centuries. Quincy do not destroy the souls of the Hollows they kill. They tether them Yhwach. Every Quincy that dies, their souls go to Yhwach. The purges you committed against Quincy to protect the balance of the world, you simply gave Yhwach souls to aid him in his resurrection. He has spent the last thousand years preparing for war. He has an army of pure blooded Quincy at his disposal, an army that has been conditioned by him to view Shinigami as the enemy. They will kill for him and will die for him without question."

Everyone was silent at that declaration. Everything that everyone in this room had ever believed in the nature of souls, the reasons why the Quincy had to eliminated for the sake of all, Ichigo simply upended everything. Toshiro allowed himself to digest what had been said, just everyone else in the room had. The Captain-Commander had remained silent, his head bowed as he was coming to the same thoughts that they had.

"Do you trust his words?" Yamamoto finally asked, looking towards Byakuya. "Do you place your honor and word on that Ichigo Kurosaki speaks the truth?"

"I do," Byakuya stated, that was a statement that got some stares. "I would stake the honor of my house on it."

"...I will honor your request to return the body to Kugo Ginjo." Yamamoto allowed finally. "But in regards to your request regarding Yhwach, I will investigate this myself. I will not formally mobilize the Gotei until I am convinced there is proof he is back and that evidence is present. Until then, I will deny your request for any support."

Toshiro saw the look on Ichigo's face, saw the disappointment and the frustration. But then it turned into resignation. "You will do what you think is best Captain-Commander, just as I will do the same."

Shunsui looked towards Ichigo. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, speaking for the first time and showing some concern.

"Whether or not you believe me doesn't change my own plans," Ichigo said definitively. "I know Yhwach is alive. I know what he has done and know what he plans to do. With your help or without it, there will be a war. Only this time, when I face him, I am going to make certain he is dead."

He spared a simple look to Byakuya and then left the room, leaving all of them staring. Yet as Toshiro watched Ichigo depart, he felt a coldness run down his spine. Ironic given the power of his zanpakuto.

Why did he feel that everything Ichigo said was the truth?

And why did he feel that by not offering help, they were merely sealing their own fate?


	8. Conversations with Dead Men

**Author's Notes: It's been a while I know, longer than I had planned for between updates but things in my own life have not really been the best since my last chapter. As it stands, I can't commit to a posting schedule, only offer that every chapter I do post will have meaning and hope you think it is worth the wait.**

 **This chapter, in particular, took a while to get down as I wanted to get it done by the one year anniversary of this story, but some parts were hard to nail down the way that I wanted. Every scene has a purpose, some just laying the groundwork for the plot even if it isn't immediately visible.**

 **But now that this chapter is written, I have started to work on the next and it is one I am hoping will be able to share with you by the end of the year or the start of 2020. It's one of a few major surprises I have planned to change the course of the canonical TYBW arc.**

 **I encourage you to leave your reviews as I like to know what my readers are thinking. Thank you for your support.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.**

 **Chapter 8: Conversations with Dead Men**

Riruka didn't get up immediately, she lay on the mat and just waited. She didn't want another tearful exchange, looking to the side she saw the sleeping form of Orihime. The orange-haired girl looked content, she wasn't about to ruin it or cause any more grief for herself or those around her. Enough damage had been done, there was no point causing any more.

These people had been kind to her, more than she deserved. More than any of them deserved. They had been enemies, had manipulated them all without a single care. To brush that off, you had to be very callous and cold, and while many of them were. They still had things the clung to, and if these people were willing to show mercy and respect to them in spite of that.

She couldn't be anything but grateful.

But it was time she left.

They were busy, too focused on other things to worry about her. It was time she left.

Rising gingerly from the mat she moved for the door, tiptoeing to it and then opening the door she hoped for a clean getaway. Although to her surprise she found the imposing form of someone standing there, clearly waiting for her to step out. She let out a shriek of surprise and fell back, flustered by the unexpected guest.

"Ichigo…" Riruka muttered before she felt a vein bulge on her head. "You ass! Why did you have to scare me like that!?"

"I'm actually looking for you." He replied, before giving her a beckoning wave.

She followed him out of the Shoten, outside she found a makeshift coffin, hastily constructed. Beside it was Urahara, he was doing some finishing touches.

"Is... is that...?" She asked.

Ichigo nodded, walking forward and running a hand over the coffin. He exchanged a few words with Urahara, before they parted and the shopkeeper returned to the store. Leaving herself and Ichigo alone in front of the shop.

"I got the Gotei to release his body," Ichigo said, turning to her. "I know you were close, so I wanted to know, was there a place you think we could lay him to rest?"

Ginjo was many things, not often very vocal about his past. But there were some things that she knew and a single place came to mind. The Fullbringer allowed a sad smile to grace her lips. "Yes. I know a place."

* * *

The Twelfth Division was abuzz with activity, its scientists and researchers hard at work trying to advance the technologies of the Soul Society. Hundreds of different projects were underway, some for the division and others personal, one such as the project being run by the current Head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi examined the Substitute Shinigami Badge, going over its inner mechanisms and reading the data he was extracting from its internal data banks. This technology was young, relatively speaking it as it was only three decades old. Something he developed on his own, per request after all.

But oddly enough he found that some of the inner mechanisms and surveillance devices had been disabled. A lot of valuable data was missing, and he would need to rack his brain and try and figure out the details he missed. What he would like to know is how he was able to disable all these functions; the Badge was durable and shouldn't have been affected.

He suspected that the Badge was used as a focus for his powers, after all, it was shown through Ichigo Kurosaki's badge that there was massive power fluctuation moving through his badge. It was never designed to channel such large quantities of power, storage yes, but never releasing them or channeling. So the influx and expulsion of the power might have damaged it to the point were its inner components malfunctioned.

"If I only had the body, I would have liked to experiment on him, based on the reports he had several unique properties. Including having hybrid abilities, now that is rare," Mayuri thought.

He cursed Yamamoto's refusal for handing over such a valuable cadaver. It could hold untold information regarding these Fullbringers and their abilities. But he had to get sentimental and break the rules, going out of his way to appease the boy. Honestly, for someone who was considered wise, the Captain Commander was making unsound choices as of late.

"Master Mayuri, I have returned," Nemu announced, his Lieutenant and daughter stepping into the room.

"Yes, yes, get me a siphoning disk," Mayuri said, barely even acknowledging her presence as the work in front of him was a more important use of his time than frivolous greetings. "I need to collect whatever spiritual energy is left in here."

Whatever power was still stored in this badge he could analyze what made it tick, if this was some sort of mutations of the Hollow energies mixing with normal humans it opened a new avenue for him to experiment with.

"This would have been so much simpler if I had that body, but now, I am forced to rely on scraps," Mayuri muttered.

"Ichigo Kurosaki seemed to wish for the body of Kūgo Ginjo to be returned so that he could lay it to rest," Nemu stated.

"Obviously, the Captain-Commander got soft and gave back the body out of sentimentality," Mayuri said disdainfully. "Just because he is the Substitute he got off scot-free, the old fool actually disobeyed so many laws just to get the boy back his powers. Powers that not so long ago, many called the mark of an abomination. Hollow and Shinigami powers mixed together. You can never expect anything in this world anymore, always chaotic."

The Captain-Commander of all people actually broke protocol and gave back Ichigo his power, that was something none had expected. Although Mayuri had an inkling that many other officers and Captains had also conspired to restore the Substitute's power. In the end, the venerable Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto decided to help.

There was going to be hell to pay later and Central was going to have a field day with this. The only reason he grouched was that if those blowhards decided to get uppity he might have a few people he didn't want breathing down his neck. Next thing he knew he could be sent back to the Nest of Maggots, it was irritating to avoid that after Kisuke Urahara was made to be a traitor. He didn't want to do it all over again.

"Anything else of note?" Mayuri inquired, barely paying attention as he continued his work.

"Following the allocation of Kūgo Ginjo's remains to Ichigo Kurosaki the topic of conversation shifted to another matter," Nemu stated. "Pertaining to his continued cooperation with the Gotei 13, the manifestation of a Quincy Sword, and a possible invasion in the future."

Mayuri stopped his word, it took only a moment to digest what had been said, but still, his mind was going several hundred Ri a second right now. "…what did you say?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki has given word on continual…"

"Not that you damn fool!" Mayuri barked, rounding on her and grabbing her by the shoulders. "About the sword! What Quincy sword?!"

"Ichigo Kurosaki manifested a sword with the five-pointed Quincy star. He then explained that Captain-Commander Yamamoto failed to kill a Quincy Along with mentioning of a Quincy army under the leadership of a Quincy known as Yhwach." Nemu reported in her normal monotone. Her face expressionless as always.

A sharp contrast from the expression on her father's face, he could not believe what he had just heard. He felt both caught off guard and elated, he had not expected this event to occur so soon but he knew it was coming. So many new variables are in place, he had to figure this out quickly, every second counted.

"Why didn't you just tell me _that_ from the beginning!" He snapped, pushing her aside and rushing for his terminals, he needed to get to work, nothing else mattered.

"But you have always stressed the need to be thorough and start from the begin—"

"Enough!" Mayuri snapped. "I don't need you to recite your thought process. I want to know what Kurosaki had to say after he manifested his Quincy powers! Every word!"

Nemu did as such, recounting every single word said to him, including adding in the other Captains' input. Even the Captain-Commanders denial, it was almost amusing to hear those words again, he had heard them over two years ago when he first proposed the Quincy's survival to him.

It would appear he was right. Even if Ichigo was not a credible source he knew that the boy didn't say things unless he had facts. Given what he had just done, that was proof enough.

* * *

The air was clear today, it was a good day.

He felt the clean crisp air enter his lung, warm and filled with the fragrance of several jasmine flowers. It was soothing, after today's events he needed some time to calm himself and wait. Nature was calm and peaceful, unchanging even as the millennia passed by, it had been that tranquility that had kept him centered.

In trying and difficult times one always needed to find a way to unwind without having to resort to some drastic measures. His old friend often tried to drink issues away or nap, but he was more of a 'smell the flowers' kind of man. For him, this was the best way to let go of all his troubles, even those that seemed to be unwilling to let go.

Kūgo Ginjo was one such issue.

It was one of the lowest and more depressing points in his career as a Captain. In had been a moment that had dashed all his hopes, hopes for a young man that had the drive and will to be more than just human. Ukitake believed that Ginjo was destined to bring about great change for the Soul Society, to leave a mark that might change things drastically.

He left a mark. A bloody depressing one.

Ginjo had turned from them, murdering several Shinigami in the process and disappearing without a trace. He had hidden away for decades, out of sight, and they knew not if he was alive or dead. To this day they could never understand why he had turned on them, why he had betrayed them.

From what was said by the advanced party sent to aid Ichigo, Ginjo believed they had betrayed them. How he did not know, but what betrayal he seemed to have suffered through Ukitake had no idea. But whatever he went through had been enough to twist the once good man.

He had not thought that the revelation of the Badge would be so harrowing for him, to feel so violated. It was his belief that if Ginjo discovered the truth he would make the choice himself, to looks past such things and do what he feels is right, that was his belief. If it was the cause of his descent than he had grossly overestimated Ginjo, or maybe he had been too fickle and cold to consider the sense of mistrust he had shown towards the young man. Maybe that was the case, for now, he felt the same dread in his chest as he waited to hear from the Captains on Ichigo and what he plans to do now.

The sound of footsteps told him someone was approaching, he didn't turn or speak up. Just waited for them to say something, but first they took a seat next to him and looked out over the horizon. They were quiet for a few minutes.

"Nice view, never changes. Never gets old." He said.

"Why do you think I come here?" Jushiro replied, smiling slightly.

"Well not that much of a view of the public baths, especially since we can only see the men's side," Kyoraku said, giving a cheeky grin, but he sighed after a moment. "Ichigo left."

"And the badge?" Jushiro asked.

"He's taking it with him," Kyoraku said, smiling ever so slightly, he was pleased, he wasn't the only one. "He trusts us, says he want to continue to work alongside us."

Ukitake felt relief, actual relief that spread through his entire being. The young certainly are those that outshine the old, and they never truly see just how bright they are. Ichigo was no exception, he had blown away all expectations, and become something he hoped he would become.

"That is good to know," Ukitake replied.

The peaceful few minutes there were spent in silence, and it came time to depart they did it together. But the elation of the scenery and the news did not last as they descended the hill.

"Not all good news though," Kyoraku replied, his expression solemn. "I am sure you read the reports."

Ukitake nodded, he had read them, and from the looks of it, Kyoraku had confirmed them when he attended the Captain's meeting. Ichigo Kurosaki had the powers of a Quincy, a heritage that they had not expected the young man to possess. A Shinigami father, which likely pointed to his mother being a Quincy, and then having Hollow powers. Such a thing… unheard of, inconceivable.

"What else was said?" Ukitake asked.

"Yhwach is apparently alive and has an army waiting to attack when the mood suits him," Kyoraku said. "We are looking at another Shiloh here."

That might be an understatement; Shiloh had been where the original Gotei 13 had fought Yhwach in the World of the Living. It was a massive chaotic mess, said to have nearly been the end of the Quincy and Shinigami. They knew about the war, where many others did not, and right now they were truly afraid of it erupting one more.

"How did the Captain-Commander take the news?" Jushiro asked.

"Not well, but he is in a foul mood right now. Not long after Ichigo left he received a summons from Central 46." Kyoraku said.

"Do you think this pertains to Ichigo?" Jushiro asked, but then had a thought. "Maybe about the Quincy? About Yhwach?"

"If I was making a bet, I am certain that it is both."

* * *

It was not often he was summoned so abruptly by the Wise Men of Central 46, usually, there is a cue to wade through before one receives an audience. Even when directly summoned they often had to wait, he certainly could have used the time.

To manage his own thoughts and correct his humor that had become unbalanced. The revelations revealed by Ichigo Kurosaki were things he had no choice but to take seriously, to ignore them could invite disaster and ruin onto the Soul Society.

More than likely he would have to deal with the fallout of his actions regarding giving Ichigo Kurosaki his powers, although he had little idea as to why the sudden urgency. Something was amiss here, he did not live so long and have so much authority because he catered to others and bowed to their wishes.

"Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, you are here to face the judgment of this Council. You are accused of treason against the Soul Society and the laws of this council."

The words did not surprise him, although given that they had not made the charges stick or outright say he was guilty of treason meant they were trying to cow him. This is why he had done this himself, why he had aided his fellow Captains and Lieutenants in restoring Ichigo Kurosaki's power. He may have done it for honor's sake but there was also the reason for protecting the Gotei from possible civil war.

If the Captains and officers were willing to break rank for one individual than it would not be so strange that if Central made attempts to arrest them there would be a conflict that could tear the Gotei apart. Best he be labeled as the sole perpetrator in this, they had little they could use against him, little to charge him with, little to hold him over.

"You willingly restored the powers of the human, Ichigo Kurosaki, ordering your Captains and Lieutenants to give their powers to restore them."

"This is a military matter, not a civilian one, the actions of the Gotei in matters of military importance cannot be questioned. Given the circumstances that I am sure you are aware the consequences of not acting in this matter could have led to unforeseen consequences," Yamamoto replied.

"Do not attempt to mislead this council Captain-Commander, we are well aware of your motives in this along with what you are hiding. This was not a military matter but a personal one, that in itself is a gross overstep of your authority."

"It is better that an ally remains as such than be lost to an enemy, especially from one so loyal," Yamamoto replied.

"Is it wise to consider a Quincy an ally?"

That was something he had not expected, although it should have been expected. It seems that Central has been able to gain access to some of their reports, reports that he was certain had not been allowed to be distributed.

"You allow your own sense of honor and pride blind you to the facts, this is not the first time you have turned a blind eye to glaring issues, particularly threats."

"That is correct. First, there was Uryu Ishida, a pureblood Quincy, who aided in the invasion of the Seireitei two years ago."

"Now we learn that Ichigo Kurosaki, a boy who also possesses Hollow powers, has been restored to his previous strength. Did you not think to consider the ramifications of your action?"

These barbs came from all across the room, from faceless men and unknown people.

"You cannot expect these actions to go unpunished, reforms will need to be put in place to stop the gross misuse of power that seems to be running rampant in the ranks of the Gotei 13."

"It is not within your authority to make changes to the structure and power within the Gotei 13, this does not fall within your jurisdiction," Yamamoto stated, his words firm and his stance unmoving.

He had built the Thirteen Court Guard Squads to combat the Quincy, he had strong-armed the noble family, Central 46 and many others into creating this organization. He used force and sheer infamy to make it what it is, and he was not going to let some assemblyman dictate how he runs it.

"You are too far behind in the time Captain-Commander, your ways and method are inadequate."

"Silence."

There seemed to be a silent exchange from above, near the chairmen that lead the council, the four seats were in silent discussion. He knew that each of those seats was connected to the Four Great Noble houses, they were influential in Central and as much as the Council was meant to be impartial there was little that could be impartial when the four greatest noble houses ruled over it.

"Captain-Commander Yamamoto. We do not wish to demean or insult you. Your actions and leadership these last thousand years have been exemplary and have without a doubt proven fruitful for the Soul Society. But the Gotei was formed in a time of war, when soldiers were needed to fight off the enemies that sought to consume us. Those times have passed and it is time for us to look to new methods of protecting the peace."

He was soft-spoken, respectful as well, but that did not mean much when a room was full of vipers.

"How do you intend to achieve that?"

"Consolidate the Soul Society from anything that wishes to disrupt the peace and security we have. If we are threatened, in danger, we must ensure that all is barred from reaching these sacred walls. For that, we have this decree: Ichigo Kurosaki is forever banned from society so long as he has a living body. If he does, the Gotei is to treat him as the delusional outsider that he is. The Soul Society is under our governess and we will protect it from all forms of danger, from outside of it, to within."

Yamamoto narrowed his eyes but nodded his head. He departed without another word.

He had so many suspicions as of late, right now he had no idea how to make sense of them or those men in there. Wisdom was a virtue that seemed to elude most of them, although more sinful things might be driving them to do this.

But time is needed to uncover this madness. For now, he would need to inform his Captains of the development, they needed to be made aware of Centrals decree and take the appropriate steps. He couldn't afford to let any of them be charged for treason, not now, not when it is becoming so dangerous.

Yet as he moved from the chamber a Hell Butterfly appeared, landing on the top of his staff and giving him a message. He narrowed his eyes, it seemed that he was not the only one to call for an assembly.

But for someone to do so was not in the norm, only he could call for such an assembly, and he certainly had not called for it.

* * *

When Riruka said that she knew a place that they could bury Ginjo, Ichigo was thinking it would be some area that no one would come out to. Someplace where he could be laid at rest in peace. An isolated apple tree grove seemed as peaceful as it could be, yet that was not was what gave him pause.

"Riruka? What are these?" Ichigo finally asked, looking at half a dozen grave markers in the ground.

"Our predecessors," The young girl said somberly. "These are the graves of the first generation of Xcution that Ginjo gathered, back when he was still a Substitute Shinigami."

The first generation of Xcution. Ichigo had a sinking feeling he knew what had led to Ginjo's sudden defection. But he needed to learn more. "What can you tell me about them?"

"Ginjo never really liked to talk about his past so much. More often than not, his words would be tinged with bitterness and hatred, mostly towards the Shinigami."

Ichigo nodded, remembering how lost in himself Ginjo was towards the end, letting all of his frustrations and anger felt but also his wish to simply let it all end.

"One day, Ginjo left the group. I was still new, I was still a kid."

"You still are a kid."

"I am not!" Riruka snapped before composing herself. "I ended up following him here. I was trying to be quiet as he was just speaking to nothing, he caught me in the end. That's when he showed them to me. Don't know if he was lost in the moment, or if he just wanted to humor me. Told me about his past, of how he had been a Substitute, and during a hollow hunt, he came across humans with powers. Powers not like the Shinigami."

"Fullbringers," Ichigo stated, receiving a nod.

"He never reported them. They weren't killing Hollows or destroying souls. In fact, they wanted to be rid of their powers. So he helped them however he could, forging bonds with them. They were his family..." She trailed off, her tone ominous.

"Riruka, what happened?"

"Ginjo returned to the place they all called home, only to find masked Shinigami standing over the dead bodies of his friends with bloody Zanpakuto."

To say Ichigo felt unsettled would be an understatement. He thought maybe this was just Riruka wanting to pain the Shinigami as being villains once more, like how Ginjo did during their battle. But when Ginjo had tried to paint himself as the victim, it had been all about his powers being taken, about how he felt wronged as a substitute and was hunted.

What Riruka was saying was not hateful, malicious, or a lie to be told. It was something she believed to be true. "I don't understand. In all that time we were fighting, all the time he tried to convince me about the Shinigami, why wouldn't he have said something about that?"

"Ginjo doesn't like to speak about his past much. With regard to the previous Xcution, I think only Tsukishima and I were the only ones to know anything about them. Tsukishima because of how close he was to Ginjo, me because of following him that one time. But even then, it's painful. Just thinking about them, he associated that with the pain of how he saw them die," Riruka said somberly. "I think, in order for him to move on, he had put them out of his mind, far enough that he would never think about them except in the need to avenge them. Isolating himself like that it changed him, and not for the better. Tsukishima did nothing but encourage Ginjo because he couldn't ever conceive calling him out on his problems. To him, Ginjo was perfect. If Ginjo felt enraged, it was justified and we should just help him."

The silence permeated the area for a few minutes, as Ichigo took in her words. "Ginjo became lost within his own anger disdain. His burden to get revenge for friends he had couldn't even bring himself to speak about, it would have lead to another tragedy but he couldn't see it, none of them could. None of us had the strength or the will try to change Ginjo," she said, looking up to Ichigo with a grateful expression on her face and with tears running down. "But you changed all that. You set Ginjo free Ichigo. He may be dead, but he is finally free of his burden and I am grateful for that."

"... I only wish it wasn't necessary," Ichigo replied. His substitute predecessor was more complex than he thought. Was it by choice that Ginjo never shared it, or was he so lost to his burden that he couldn't say it.

Whatever the reason, the facts remained. Ginjo was dead and Ichigo was still alive.

It was time for him to lay Ginjo to rest.

* * *

Arriving back at the First Division he found his Captains outside, waiting for the rest to arrive. They seemed surprised that he was walking up the steps, usually, he was within waiting for them.

"Captain Commander?" Sajin murmured, obviously perplexed.

"I see you have received the message, as did I. Which of you summoned us all here?" Yamamoto demanded, he had no time for insubordination, not at a time like this.

"Wasn't us," Kyoraku replied, shaking his head. "We all got a message as well."

Yamamoto scanned across the room and to every one of his Captains, he saw one was missing, he knew who the culprit was. Should have expected nothing less from that man. He moved forward and pushed open the door, to no surprise he found Mayuri Kurotsuchi standing in the center of the meeting hall waiting for them.

"What is the meaning of this Captain Kurotsuchi?" Yamamoto asked, his patience has worn thin already.

Kurotsuchi didn't speak. Instead, he walked over to the left wall and ripped a panel out. The entire wall was crammed full of electronic devices and gadgets that the Twelfth Division seemed so fixated on using. He had obviously replaced that wall with those crude contraptions for some inane reason, likely to flaunt somehow as he made a show for his fellow Captains.

"Is there a reason this is inside my Hall Captain Kurotsuchi?" Yamamoto asked.

"This wasn't installed by me," He answered, expression blank and eyes pointed. "I already disabled this one and the others I already removed from my Division Barracks. I simply wanted to have a show and tell to hammer the point in."

He wasn't being arrogant and boastful, the matter was serious enough that even the Head of the Research and Development Department was worried.

"We have traitors within our squads. Shinigami who are not loyal to their Captains, but to the new Central 46," Mayuri announced as he narrowed his eyes. "I am certain you figured out something was amiss when you were called before Central Captain-Commander."

Mayuri was not one to mince words.

"The only way Central 46 could have learned about our plans with Kurosaki, not to mention his heritage, something that was only accessible from reports that have not been filed. But also discussed from within this very room, was by spying on the meetings we held only a few short hours ago." Mayuri said.

The news was not pleasant to hear, the idea that they were being spied upon and their conversations listened to was a major breach of security. In a way some of them found it ironic, they had feared that Ichigo Kurosaki may turn on them for knowing that they had him under surveillance, now they were in his shoes.

Although the ramifications of such a thing were not to be taken lightly. Who was listening to them was not to be considered benevolent. Anything that can be used against them or others could be dangerous, and given what they had just discussed there was no telling what kind of consequences might come from this.

"I also assume they spoke of Yhwach?"

"No, that is a matter that they saw no reason to broach, and neither does it need to be," Yamamoto replied only to see the frustration on the scientist's face.

"Stop this indulging in this delusion, Captain-Commander," Mayuri said. "You cannot deny it any further, the evidence I have and with Ichigo Kurosaki's testimony all but confirms what I have been telling you. In fact, it explains a few odd occurrences as of late."

"Occurrences?" Shinji inquired.

"There has been a rapid increase in Hollow deaths in Hueco Mundo, along with the World of the Living. In fact, this has resulted in measures taken to ensure that the balance does not shift." Mayuri stated. "I gave the order sixteen days ago to purge several thousand souls in the Rukongai in order to counter the effects of the Hollow deaths."

The atmosphere in the room immediately became tense as that as something none of them was aware of. A purge of life on that scale could not be carried out unless it is sanctioned by the Captain Commander.

"You broke the law," Yamamoto ground out, his voice like rumbling thunder, showing his disapproval at being undermined. "You went and carried out a purge without properly informing me."

"I did so because of how rapid the balance was declining, in fact, I am certain in the next few days I will need to carry out several more." Mayuri countered, his tone cold and detached. "Given that this is likely connected to the Quincy, I expected you to push this under the rug and ignore it."

"Stop acting all high and mighty Kurotsuchi," Toshiro scoffed. "You don't care about the welfare of the people."

"Not in the same sense that all of you do perhaps but I do very much care for my own life," Mayuri stated, before looking into Byakuya's direction. "Aside from Captain Kuchiki, I am the only one that understands anything about the coming calamity right now, and unless you stop ignoring the facts we are looking at a major collapse of the Balance."

"You can't be serious," Sui-Feng questioned.

"Do you know me to make jokes, assassin?" Mayuri returned. "You know you cannot explain away the facts. There is damning evidence to support the Quincy have returned. I told you this two years ago when Uryu Ishida appeared. I am telling you now, we cannot afford to ignore this."

Yamamoto didn't want to believe it, because it meant failure on his part. For so many years he believed that all the bloodshed and misery he inflicted had meant something. Instead, it only showed that he failed to do what was needed. End the single greatest threat to the balance there was. A threat that may return.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, you believe his words?" Yamamoto inquired.

"The boy is a terrible liar unless he can fool my daughter and the rest of you than he certainly has come up in the world," Mayuri responded.

There was no point in arguing anymore, but it still left issues that he would be forced to deal with. Central had told him that this was not a time for war, mobilizing his forces without their express permission could have consequences that may set them back before they can prepare.

"Regardless of what any of us may wish for, by the order of Central 46 we cannot openly prepare for war," Yamamoto stated, opening his eyes to look over the captains. "However, that does not mean we will do nothing. I know what Yhwach is capable of and I will not allow myself or the Gotei to be taken out like lambs to slaughter. Find those you know that can be trusted, bring them into your confidence. We must prepare for what is to come."

"What about Ichigo?" Kyoraku inquired.

"He has been labeled a threat to the peace of the Soul Society, barred from entering the Seireitei and Soul Society until he no longer possesses a living body," Yamamoto replied.

That was something that surprised them, but they did not speak up, it only made it more obvious of the conflict that they are about to face. If their ally was not going to be able to join, they needed to find other prospects.

The Captains nodded, moving from the chamber and heading back to their own Squads.

All but one.

"Is there something you wish to speak of in private, Captain Hitsugaya?"

"Captain-Commander, if we cannot act openly, and if Central is restricting us and the Gotei… then perhaps we should look towards gaining help from an unlikely source."

Yamamoto looked back the youngest of his captains, an appraising look on his face. "What source is this?"

"I cannot tell you, but know that this asset does not pose a threat to the Gotei or Soul Society,"

Yamamoto read between the lines. A possible criminal element but one that would not be against them. "Can this asset be tied to us in any way if he or she were to be captured be forced loyal to Central 46?"

"No. If he were to be captured, there would be no reason for anyone to believe he would be aligned with the Gotei."

Yamamoto considered his options carefully. This would be a rogue operation, using an asset he would know nothing about, leaving the execution of orders to Captain Hitsugaya, and while insulating himself and the Gotei from fallout, could easily go badly. But if this is only the beginning of what Central 46 had planned with their so-called 'plans for the future', his course was clear.

"Then you may act as you see fit, so long as the honor of the Gotei is never compromised."

* * *

They buried him underneath the old grove tree.

Huddled between the graves of his former friends and family, it was the best place for him, in life and in death he would always be surrounded by them. He wasn't much one for farewells, he could only give a silent goodbye that none other than himself could hear. That would be enough, no more words needed to be said.

Riruka did the same. There were a few moments of silence between them, and she was the first to turn and walk away.

"You won't stay?" Ichigo asked her, knowing she would leave.

"I don't have a place here. I think it's best for me if I just move on," Riruka replied. "I'd ask if you'd just forget about me but I know you won't ever forget us."

"Why would I want to forget you?" Ichigo asked honestly.

She didn't reply, but her steps slowed for a moment. He wouldn't want to forget them, for all that was done and all that he had been through he didn't blame them, he didn't hate them. He understood pain, maybe not as identically as them, but he understood what it is like to lose, to be lost and helpless and feel like everything is gone.

They gave it all back to him. In a way, no matter how this had ended, they were like another family for him.

"Goodbye," Ichigo said.

He wouldn't ask her to stay, it wouldn't be right. Not for him, not for her, she needed to go her own way.

"Goodbye." She returned, walking into the woods, the shadows of the high canopy wrapping around her and stealing away from sight.

Turning back to the grave, of a man that he considered a friend, an enemy, and fellow substitute, he gave one final farewell. Now was not the time for remorse or grief, he had faced enough of that in the short time as a Shinigami and the many months without his powers. It was time for him to prepare.

War was on the horizon, his enemies would not wait and neither would he.

He would rest, recover, and plan. There was an enemy he needed to face, and he was not going to be unprepared.

* * *

"So this is the end of it, the path we started on," Riruka muttered, looking up at the leaves of the trees and spying the light barely breaking through the canopy.

She had been waiting for this moment for years, everyone in Xcution had been waiting, to get to the moment where they could avenge their predecessors. To accomplish the mission Ginjo had set them on, to make those that had wrong their kind and him.

It had not ended how they had thought, how they had hoped, but all the same, it ended on a bittersweet note.

"I hope you are resting well, no longer having to plot and scheme." Riruka said.

He had been consumed in the end, the goal was in sight and he was drooling with anticipation. The worst kind of anticipation, he had changed and been altered by that need for vengeance. It was better that it ended this way, that he had not come to the end and been consumed by his own villainy.

Ginjo was never the villain. He was just a poor lost soul like the rest of them.

"Now I am lost again. Wonder where I will wander off to." Riruka said, stepping from the forest and looking out over the city. "Where to from here? Where do I run to? What do I do?"

"You know, running isn't ever going to solve anything for you."

Riruka blinked hard, not expecting someone else to be there. Behind her no less, and it was a voice that she did not recognize, or maybe she did. She wasn't certain at this point, but she had a feeling in her gut this was someone she knew. That was not a good thing. Turning back she looked to see who had snuck up on her, no one was there. But at the same time they were, the voice was familiar and she had an inkling on who it was. But she couldn't be sure, why was she here?

"Getting my memories back to normal after the manipulator bought it, I can honestly say I wanted to give you Fullbringers hell to pay." The decidedly female voice said before letting a resigned sigh. "At least I did until I heard your story. You're just a damaged little girl, hurt by the world around her, a world that couldn't understand her."

"Shut up!" Riruka sapped back, trying to regain some form of control, ready to book it the moment she knew which direction this unknown speaker had come from. "Who do you think you are, a creepy voice in the woods? What could you possibly know about my pain!"

Someone emerged from the shadows under the canopy, turning to the direction she reached for her Dollhouse Gun. It never left the holster because of the person that came out and she saw her face.

This girl wasn't a threat. At least she wasn't supposed to be. She was just some girl from Ichigo's school. She didn't even know her name.

The person that had snuck up on Riruka had a slight smirk on her face, taking a bit of enjoyment from Riruka's expression. "You're so concerned about being judged by what you can do, that society won't accept you. Maybe it's true for _this_ society. But what if this wasn't the _only_ society for an option."

"What are you talking about?" Riruka asked.

"I want to do for you what someone else did for me. Offer you a chance to go to a place you could go and not be judged as you have felt for so long by others. A place where your Fullbring would not be the strangest thing you would see. A place where you can be accepted for who you are rather than what this world expects you to be."

Riruka was silent for what appeared to be minutes, trying to make sense of what was being told to her. She knew that there was much to this world that was not known to her, there was a lot out there she didn't understand. But how the hell did this girl expect to know anything? Riruka knew a lot, having learned from Ginjo and a few others that they had crossed paths with, there was no way she knew more than she was letting on.

"Who are you again? I don't even remember your name."

The female figure simply smiled as she gave her response. "Who am I… I'm just a Knight."

* * *

The park was empty, he was thankful for that at least.

The last thing he wanted was for someone to come by and think he was sulking, making up some story that he had been dumped by a girlfriend or that he didn't get a perfect score on his history exam. It wasn't like that at all.

Uryu wasn't someone who sulked.

Brood would be a better word to describe how he felt. He wasn't stewing in his negativity, he was channeling them as he tried to wrap his brain around his father's actions. How he hid so much of his family and races history from him, continually tried to push him away from this path and force him into normalcy.

It was near hypocritical. Beyond his own desire to avenge his mother, even his aid in restoring his powers after he lost them in the Soul Society, his father was never one to follow his own words. Cold and aloof and not caring of anyone else, a habit and trait he picked up from the man.

He felt something briefly register on his senses, Hollow energy, fast approaching.

"... I don't have time for this."

Standing up he summoned his bow and planned to blow this Hollow away so he could think. But as he turned he hesitated, this wasn't a Hollow, not in the obvious sense.

"An Arrancar?"

Standing at the end of the park was an Arrancar, reddish hair and garbed in a familiar white. But there was something off with the design, too crisp and form-fitting, it spoke of regulation over casual clothing. The buttons and belt, the cuffs and neatly tied shows.

It was a uniform, one that was finely pressed and clean. A single glint of silver could be seen dangling from his wrist. Bearing a symbol he had not thought to see worn by an Arrancar.

"Who are you?" Uryu demanded, recognizing the Quincy cross upon the chain dangling from his wrist.

"My name is Asguiaro Ebern. I am one of the Vanguard of his Majesty and I have come to end your impure life."


	9. The Ash Covered Fox

**Author's Notes: Hello to all of my readers. First, I want to thank everyone who has made this my most favorite and followed story of all the stories, seriously the numbers humble me and I thank you for the support.**

 **I wish I could say that the update pace will get better but I can't as the personal problems I am dealing with at home are complicated. I get how some people can think when we say 'personal problems' is just an excuse some people give to justify the delay in updates to their favorite stories, and as I experienced with the posting of my last chapter some people made their thoughts about my delays very clear to me. Honestly, all authors want to put out their work as fast as we want so people can enjoy it, but we are also human and we all can have our issues and lives that can affect when we can post it. I'll admit that I'm envious of people on this site who manage to post weekly chapters for our consumption and enjoyment. All I can promise to do that when I do post, what I present is something I think is worth your time and hope to surprise you.**

 **Moving away from that serious business and something a bit light-hearted, 2020 didn't start well with FGO for me, my New Year's Ticket ended up boosting Caster Nero to NP3 rather than getting a new servant for my Chaldea. I did manage to snag Semiramis from this year's Valentine's Day Banner, completing my collection of all of the Fate/Apocrypha Servants currently available in-game. Now I need to try and save every single ticket and quartz possible for Skadi in a few months, try being the operative word.**

 **Bleach Brave Souls, however, continues to be a source of inspiration for me and also the only source of continued Bleach work as they adapt the Can't Fear Your Own World novels. It's helped me come to this critical point, as this chapter will be another major moment where I deviate from canon. I can only hope I surprised you all. Feel free to review, I really want to know what you all think of this chapter.**

 **Please enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

 **The Awful Truth**

 **Chapter 9: The Ash Covered Fox**

The Rukongai was a chaotic place, depending on how far you went from the Seireitei or in which direction often determined what kind of things you would encounter. But nothing was set in stone, chaos was not linear or stagnant, it changed rapidly and without control. Things can change in a district within a few years, maybe even a few months or days, circumstances in the Rukongai could never truly be understood or handled.

Especially in the Thirtieth.

Just far enough away from the Seireitei that criminal elements weren't scared of reprisal, but not stupid enough to do anything drastic to draw the ire of the Gotei 13. This place had a nice balance as being relatively safe and outside of the Gotei's sights, that along with Central 46.

"This is where you have been hiding him," Toshiro muttered, looking at the small house.

It needed some repair but the signs of recent restoration could be noticed, but it was obvious this house was being used by someone who wanted to be kept out of sight. It was on the edge of the District and situated amongst a few other houses, secluded amongst a few trees and bushes, it was well hidden and uninteresting. A perfect place to hide away in.

Stepping out of the building was a buxom blonde woman, the opening of her Shihakushō revealed her ample chest. She was a beauty and someone that would turn heads of any man that saw her, and Toshiro could see the coy smile on her lips.

A smile that died instantly the moment she saw him ten feet away from her. Her entire body became rigid and he could see this horrified look in her eyes.

"C-Captain," Rangiku Matsumoto inelegantly stuttered after minutes of awkward silence and staring, it was as if she had hoped not saying anything would make him go away.

Toshiro didn't respond to her reply. He simply began moving, stepping onto the porch and then entering the building, catching his lieutenant out of the corner of his eye making futile and halfhearted attempts to stop him.

Matsumoto couldn't stop him, not with her power or authority, not even the mutual respect they held for one another was able to bar him from entering. "Please… don't…" she pleaded before going after him.

He went to the farthest room from the door, forcing it open he found the sole inhabitant sitting on a raised bed. Covered in bandages and loose robes, he was not in the best of shapes, even his spiritual pressure felt wounded and broken. What had happened to him had been so torturous that he had never healed from it, even after a year and a half he had not recovered from the wounds he had suffered against Aizen.

"Matsumoto, remain outside," Toshiro said firmly, never taking his eyes off the man.

"No. No Captain I won't," Matsumoto responded. "I know what you think of him. I won't let you—"

"If I wanted to murder him as you imagine, I would have done it the moment I discovered this place six months ago," Toshiro said cutting her off, his tone calm yet Rangiku could feel the underlying anger and disappointment there. "It's shocking you managed to keep anyone from finding out for nearly a year but were you that naïve to think you could have gotten away with it forever? Did you think I wouldn't learn about your unscheduled trips out of the Seireitei, or procuring medicine from the Fourth Division?"

He had heard from Unohana in a Captains summit some time ago that they were going through more of their resources as of late and there was an issue with their supply. Something clicked with him there because he distinctly remembered some weeks before that his Lieutenant was getting comfortable with some officer in the Fourth. On one occasion he brought her several gifts.

Investigating he had discovered on one occasion that the officer had been the one sneaking medicine and supplies from the Fourth Division. He had been stealing from his Division to give to Rangiku, but the investigation became more compounded when he learned of her multiple trips outside of the Seireitei. Something he only discovered because he noticed some irregularities in the Division's budget.

Nothing out of the ordinary when it came to Matsumoto, he remembered many times when she would take money from their budget and spend it on sake and partying. Wild and morbid amounts of money would be spent in a night, it was something that would drive him crazy.

However, he had noticed that he didn't smell the booze and the members of his Division regularly complaining about not having any booze anymore. But there was still money being taken from their budget, but it was always a consistent amount rather than random amounts, and it was always taken from the budget at the same time every week.

Later he realized she was paying off Kaiwan, giving him money to allow her through the gates at night and not report it to anyone. She was making unsanctioned and nightly trips into the Rukongai, how could he not be suspicious of her actions.

He had pursued her, following her trail to this district and discovering her secret and the person she was keeping hidden from all eyes. After making the discovery he had a choice, several in fact, but in the end, he held his tongue and put it on the back burner until he could confront this issue without leaving Matsumoto likely facing treason charges.

In a way he was good he held off because now he had use of this man.

"It's alright Rangiku," the man in question finally spoke, his voice exactly the same as Toshiro remembered it. "He's not going to hurt me. Just give me the same disapproving stare he always does."

The Captain of the Tenth Division narrowed his eyes at him in response. "You should thankful I am not here to end your life. Gin. "

Ichimaru Gin, former Captain of the Third Division, traitor who aided Sosuke Aizen in his rebellion against the Soul Society. He was suspected to have died eighteen months ago in Karakura Town, killed by Aizen shortly after they arrived in the Soul Society. There was no question about it, no body was found, but Lieutenant Matsumoto had reported he had been killed, with Ichigo confirming he had seen the mortally wounded Gin when he arrived to confront Aizen.

But it had been false.

"Matsumoto, go outside, now," Toshiro ordered, this was more for her safety rather than Gin's. He couldn't talk with her about this; he had plans for Gin and they involved some dangerous things, the less she knew the better.

Culpability was something he couldn't allow to get out, especially when in involved Central 46.

"Don't worry Rangiku, just wait outside, it's not like we have a choice anymore," Gin said, his smile vanishing and he looked serious. "It's all up to the Captain now. So let me hear what he has to say."

Matsumoto was slow to comply, but she did, casting furtive looked behind her as she left, her steps slow. As soon as she was gone and he heard the door close behind him, Toshiro looked at Gin, examining the damage to his body.

The traitor was truly in terrible shape. His arm was missing, likely he was still recovering from serious trauma that was concealed beneath those bandages. More than that he could sense the damage on his spiritual energy and pressure, the way it moved and shifted was all wrong like it wasn't able to maintain itself. Without any medical aid, he was slow to recover from his wounds; it is possible without true medical treatment he would never recover.

"I was surprised to discover you were alive, compared to now when I last saw you I did not think it possible you could have survived. If this is what a year of recovery amounts to, I find it hard to imagine what kind of shape you were in when Aizen tried to kill you." Toshiro stated. He hadn't been lying when he said he was surprised, to survive against that monster, considering how powerful he was and what he could do even before he was mutated by the Hogyoku.

But something he found interesting was when Gin looked at him just a moment ago he saw that his right eye was not blue. It was a pale pinkish color. He paid it only the briefest of glances before he waited for Gin's response.

"Living in the Rukongai has not been easy, not enough supplies to keep me going, along with being on death's door more times than not. You caught me on a good day, lucky you," Gin said, his smile returning.

"How did you survive?" Toshiro inquired. "I can tell you are in bad shape, but this is levels above the state you were in when I last saw you, and there was no telling how bad you were when you received these wounds. How is it that you stayed alive this long?"

Gin looked ready to make another comment, but Toshiro knew he would make some sort of quip or try to dodge the question. "Don't try to brush this off; I heard from Ichigo how bad of a shape you were in, along with Urahara. I want to know how you survived. I heard a few things as well from some of Ichigo's human friends you tried to assassinate Aizen."

He recalled the report, saying that Aizen and Gin had come across some of Ichigo's human friends in Karakura Town and tried to kill them. But in an act that boggled the mind, it seems that Gin had turned on Aizen and tried to kill him, failing to do so and only being successful in stealing the Hogyoku for a short time.

"I want your reasons for doing that, why turn on the man? What did he do to make your turn on him like that?" Toshiro questioned, putting one hand on Hyōrinmaru's hilt. "I want to know the reasons you sided with him in the first place as well. You will give me an answer because it is the only thing that will determine whether or not you get to live."

Gin's smile did not falter in the slightest. "Scary. No need to be so threatening, not like I am a danger to you."

Toshiro despite seeing and sensing the kind of condition this man was in had his doubts that he was truly as vulnerable as he made himself out to be. Gin was not only as slippery as a snake but also as cunning as a fox. For those reasons alone, Toshiro had his reservations on lowering his guard around this man. "Start talking."

"Well… it sort of went like this…"

* * *

 ** _Seventeen Months Ago…_**

 _Gin had not felt pain like this before; truthfully he had never been on the verge of death up until this very moment. Yet a part of him never thought he would be in such agony, down an arm and his own spiritual power going berserk as something attempted to erase him from existence._

 _Guess that was Aizen's new monstrous spiritual pressure, so strong that it literally was erasing him from existence. So much as get touched and you are on the road to oblivion, it was a scary thing to consider, oblivion and ceasing to exist. Although a part of him couldn't help but feel relieved, even in the face of death he could rest comfortably knowing that the man he wanted dead was going to get his due._

 ** _'Those eyes are strong… it's all up to you now Ichigo…'_**

 _Gin could see the strength that radiated from the young substitute's gaze, he was ready and able to finish this. To avenge the wrongs inflicted upon Rangiku, to make sure that the crimes Aizen committed were paid for in full. Yet, he could die now knowing that everything would work out in the end._

 _He looked up, into the eyes of the woman he wanted to protect._

 ** _'Please don't cry like that… it will all be better soon… so smile…'_**

 _He closed his eyes, for the final time._

 _Darkness consumed him, consciousness faded, and within moments there was nothing. For a moment that is, for what he saw next was a crimson light, pale it might be but it was still there. Perhaps he wasn't facing oblivion then, maybe he was on the path to hell. Although this didn't seem so foreboding if he said so himself._

 _Well… not like he had the right to complain._

 _Although he did feel the need to curse when something slammed into his stomach and sent him reeling back. He resisted the urge to blink, but he had to look around because that shouldn't have happened. How could he have been knocked on his ass if he was already on his back bleeding out? He certainly didn't have the strength to stand up and survive what he went through._

 _"You really can be an idiot sometimes."_

 _The childish voice drew his attention forward, he had a witty remark already prepared and on the tip of his tongue, but he choked on those words as he saw the speaker. He should have recognized the voice, but it had been so many years since he heard that cute little squeaking tone that he had forgotten about it._

 _It was Rangiku, but at the same time, it was not. But she was not the voluptuous Lieutenant of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, no, now she was the small child he had met all those years ago in the Rukongai. The girl had the same strawberry blonde hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. The girl he had befriended and used all his power to protect and keep safe._

 _"Doing all that and getting yourself killed, for what? A memory." She said, despite being in the form of a child her tongue was as sharp and rough as her adult self. Just like he remembers her._

 _"What I did, I did for you. It was all so you could be whole again, so you wouldn't suffer…" Gin said, only to lurch forward as a fist connected with his stomach._

 _"Stupid! How can you be so stupid?" the child snapped, the calm she showed before was now gone. Instead, Gin felt her piercing stare. "Did you forget what I said to you? How much you meant to me, how important you were to me? I cared for only the days where I had met you! There was nothing for me before then!"_

 _He remembered those words, they sounded so childish in his memories but looking back on it now. Maybe it wasn't so, maybe they were the truest thing he could call love, the love she felt for him for giving her back her life. He cared for her as well, just as much as she did him, it was why he had done what he did._

 _"You hurt me, more than they did. The path you took drove you away from me, Gin," 'Rangiku' somberly told him. "You were the only thing that mattered to me anymore. The only person I remembered that I loved. "_

 _Gin didn't say anything, he couldn't, what was the point anymore. It was over, he was dying right now, it was only a matter of time before everything crumbled away and he was gone from the world. Maybe he had hurt her, maybe, in the end, it did amount to nothing but more heartache, but there was nothing he could do to change it._

 _He had set foot on the path, walked its length to the very end, and now he waited for the climax. The end of his existence._

 _"I made the choice I thought was right, for you. But now…" he hesitated, hanging his head down. "But now I have to face the consequences of that choice. I am sorry, but I can't apologize to you."_

 _'Rangiku' stared angrily at him. "You are so stupid. Dying is easy, it is the coward's way out. It is simply there so people can escape when they give up. Life is hard, and I know that you regret that you are going to die. So why not keep living? Isn't what you wanted most of all was for me to be whole again?"_

 _Gin looked up and saw that she raised a hand and presented to him a small glowing sphere. He looked at it in wonder, a flash of memories passing through his mind. Aizen standing before a group of kneeling Shinigami, a premature Hogyoku in his hands glowing with energy recently harvested from Rukongai residents._

 _"That… was what they took…" Gin said, reaching for the sphere, taking it from her and holding it in his hands. "How? How do you… how is this here?"_

 _"I am what he took away, that small piece from Rangiku that he stole to make the Hogyoku." 'Rangiku' said as she looked at him. "As for how I am here? You should know already."_

 _Gin wracked his brain trying to figure out this conundrum, how was it possible for her to be here right now? What had he done that had allowed this fragment to suddenly manifest, he looked down at the orb in his hands and the answer came to him._

 _"The Hogyoku… when I held it… it recognized my desire and manifested itself…" Gin said, looking at what he realized now was a soul fragment of Rangiku, who nodded her head with a smile._

 _"And I came to you. You brought me back so that you could give me back to her so she could be whole," the soul fragment replied. "This is your chance."_

 _She pointed away to something, a small white light in the distance, overshadowed by the aurora of dark red that was encompassing the sky. It was small, like a lone star in the vast night sky, it beckoned him forward, calling for him to come back._

 _"Death is easy. Are you going to take the easy way out? Or are you going to keep yourself alive so you can give that back to her?" She asked, scrutinizing him and waiting for his answer._

 _"Give up? No. Not when I still have to do something." Gin said, turning to the light, ready to fight tooth and nail to reach it._

 _For a moment he wondered about something._

 _"Hey, how can you know all about how she felt when you are the fragment of her that was taken all those years ago? How come you know about that?"_

 _"You are so stupid," 'Rangiku' said, but there was a smile on her face. "I don't have her memories, but I have yours… I saw her through your eyes, heard her through your ears, and felt her with your heart. How could I not know how she felt?"_

 _Gin smiled, shaking his head. "Yeah… I really am stupid, aren't I?" he said, turning and moving for the light._

* * *

 _The heart was the source of all spiritual power, so long as it beat within your breast you lived and had power. For it to cease to beat, for that power to vanish, death had claimed you in its entirety. Sometimes one can be saved, through special measures and a great deal of effort anyone can be brought back from the brink._

 _But there were many factors that determined if it could be done, and in this should be done. Rangiku was no healer, not a master of the craft like Isane or Unohana, nor did she have the power to carry out such a delicate operation._

 _She was trapped, unable to do anything, unable to save him._

 _"Gin, you bastard, you can't die!"_

 _Rangiku cursed as she poured her spiritual energy into the only Healing Kido that she knew, her hands pressed against the open wound where Aizen had pierced Gin in the chest. As much as she knew it was futile, that her odds were slim to none, she carried on regardless of the risk. Because this was her only chance, her only hope of seeing him survive._

 _When she had first seen him, beaten and bloody, she had charged in without hesitation. The thought of Aizen being nearby, ready and able to end her with a single sword stroke, did not register to her at that moment. It was only Gin that concerned her, and she was not going to leave him like that. But a part of her knew, deep down, that Gin was going to die regardless of what she could do and with whom had left him in such a state still being within earshot._

 _Aizen would simply kill all of them on a whim, but she didn't care, she just wanted to be by her childhood friends side one last time. There was no way she could stop the madman, he was so far out of her liege that she doubted anyone short of the Captain-Commander could hope to defeat such a beast._

 _But luck was on their side._

 _It was only because of Ichigo that any of them were alive. He had appeared with a crash of stone and concrete, different from before, stronger and just as unseen by one's spiritual senses as Aizen. Rangiku knew he had changed, become like Aizen, for he was able to physically overpower the insanely powerful traitor. Literally having him in the palm of his hand and dragging him away from the town and the rest of them. She could feel the very fluctuations in the air and the tremors in the earth, signaling that their battle was still underway, raging who knows how many miles away._

 _Realizing that they were not going to die and that the humans weren't even paying attention to her, Rangiku felt actual hope. Not only in defeating Aizen, in ending this war, but maybe also saving someone she thought was lost. It was a foolish hope, for she did not care for the consequences. Not for herself, he was so precious to her, and she would be damned if she let him die._

 _Traitor or not, enemy or not, she was going to save his life._

 _Her skills with healing Kido were subpar, but her other areas were better, so she had to improvise. With a low-level flame-based Kido, she burned the stump of Gin's arm until it had been properly cauterized. With that wound sealed she needed to focus on the other, the more blood he lost the less likely he was to be resuscitated. The more blood she kept inside his body the better, which was hard to do since that damn hole in his chest just wouldn't close._

 _It was taking too long, sometimes she thought that the skin and muscle that was being mended looked like just blobs of blood rather than healing tissue. She knew it was working, but if it would be enough to save him was something she couldn't hope to know._

 _After what seemed to be an eternity, it was sealed, no more blood gushing out from the cavity in his chest._

 _But she felt no elation because this was only just the halfway mark._

 _He was technically dead, having been killed, all she did was repair a broken corpse. So long as his heart did beat, he would not be returning._

 _Again she tried several methods to revive him, some Kido meant to help restart a heart and even a few that were more accustomed to stopping it. But she was desperate at this point, she had to try anything and everything to get him to breathe again._

 _"Damn you Gin," Rangiku hissed, throwing all manner of Kido and healing aside._

 _She performed CPR to try to restart his heart, at this point anything would work for her if it meant bringing him back._

 _"You don't get to do this to me, do you hear me! You told me you did all of this for me, I believe you! You knocked me out save me from Aizen! You don't get to die without giving me an explanation!"_

 _Her lips came to his and she breathed into his lungs, she saw the rise of his chest, but it did nothing._

 _"I have so many questions! So many frustrating questions and only you can tell me the answers! You with that annoying, infuriating face of yours! You're going to come back to life even if I have to drag you back from hell myself!"_

 _But it proved to be a failing endeavor if Kido would not work then why would some inefficient resuscitation method succeed? It wouldn't. She was deluding herself, trying desperately to try and bring him back, ignoring all logic and reason just to try and save him. She didn't have any other choice, letting him die was something she could not allow._

 _Her compressions turned to her balled fist smashing into his chest, bruising his flesh as she tried to force his heart to beat once more. Weeping she tried to make him wake up, calling his name, breathing into his lungs, slamming with all her might into his chest. But he would not wake up, he would not return to her._

 _"Wake up!"_

 _The gasp of air came in response, her weeping and wailing silenced by a sudden greedy intake of air. Eyes wide and in shock that her brutal beating of the dead man had revived him, her tears stopped, her begging ceased, and she looked with a mixture of relief and frustration at the panting Gin._

 _"Sorry... for making you worry... Rangiku," Gin wheezed, his eyes open looking at her as if to assure her._

 _She briefly noticed his right eye had changed color, from blue to pink. The same shade of pink as her own reiatsu, the brief observation passed through her mind before she discarded it for what was important._

 _"Thank god, I thought I had lost you." She said, smiling slightly as her eyes roamed over his broken and beaten form._

 _Even with the healing she had administered, along with ignoring the purple bruise that covered most of his center mass, he was in bad shape. This was well beyond her ability to heal, he needed professional help, from someone like Unohana if he hoped to even survive._

 _"I need to get you to a doctor, I cannot do anymore for you. Your injuries..." She stopped as Gin grabbed her arm with his only hand._

 _"No," Gin said firmly, holding on to her as best as he could. "Whether I live or die, I want to give you what you asked for. The answers you deserve. I want to be at peace. That won't happen if you take me to the Fourth to be healed and you know it."_

 _Rangiku didn't know what to say, as much as she wanted to yell at him for being such an idiot, she couldn't deny the truth. If she took him to the Fourth he would be dead, even if they healed his wounds they would cart him off to the Nest of Maggots to wait for his inevitable execution._

 _A part of her wanted answers, but another wanted to see him live. Even if she went without those answers, she would protect him with her life to make sure he would stay with her. With that thought she nodded her head, scooping Gin up in her arms and retreating from the battlefield. Heading towards the Rukongai outside of the Town._

 _She knew of only one place where he would be safe._

* * *

"Everyone's attention was so focused on Ichigo's fight with Aizen miles away, that they didn't pay much mind to a dead man and a weeping woman. Their fight gave Rangiku the time needed to revive me and take me away. She brought me here, to this place from our childhood that only we knew about." Gin said, looking around at the dilapidated shack they now occupied. "She did what she could to help me heal, but I am very much a cripple now. Even if I could leave this hut, I'd surely die even at the hands of a simple Rukongai thug. But for the last year and a half, it has been peaceful. More than I ever thought I could ever enjoy. I had the time to tell her everything, why I did what I did for Aizen and the reasons behind it. Come what may be ahead of me now, I am prepared. I have no more regrets."

He didn't show any emotion, not even when he recounted the tale, stating it almost like a fact. The way he hid it was impressive, not many could put aside their personal feelings to recount such a heartfelt event.

"And that's it. The end." Gin said, his usual smile on his face as he finished up his tale.

While Gin had expressed little to no emotion throughout the retelling, Toshiro on the other hand, his face betrayed his shock and disbelief. He knew of Matsumoto's past with the man, even the barest of details, but she had not expected this man to have similar sentimentality.

"… all of that... everything you did, it was all for Matsumoto?"

Gin looked at the younger Captain, betraying no emotion. It would appear that he did not like broaching the subject of his relationship with Matsumoto, especially with others. That much was obvious, he was guarded, he had to be really. If you had someone like Aizen hovering over your shoulder for a century you had to know how to hide your true feelings so he didn't pick up on them. He did well in that regard, for even Aizen never suspected Gin as a traitor.

"That I did. But there is more to it than that." Gin replied.

"How so?"

"I came into this world and the first thing I witnessed was murder, thievery, and deception. It was the only way to survive. To live, no one was off-limits; the young or the old. Lying is second nature and something like innocence is a fairy tale. It was a fact that I believed for as long as I lived in the Rukongai, scrounging up a living and trying to survive on a day to day basis. Innocence, I never knew what that was. There was only the weak and vulnerable, the strong and vicious, the victors and the dead. That is all I knew." He looked pointedly then. "But when I found Rangiku, near-death on a dirt road just outside Rukongai I saw something I never thought I would ever see. I saw Innocence for the first time. Despite the clear signs I saw that she had been violated, her eyes still held onto that innocence that only a child could. I latched on to her like a man in danger of drowning hangs onto a preserver at all cost, because she was something so unique in the Soul Society that I lived in. When I saw Aizen and what he had taken from her, I swore I would do anything to end him. Anything."

The following silence would be uncomfortable to say the very least, yet it was needed, if only for the younger Captain to digest and accept what had been told. That the man he had come to think of as irredeemable scum had depth to his soul. His motives were simple if not naïve, created by a child that knew not the true meaning of the world and its happenings, but he stuck to them.

A part of Toshiro had to admit that he almost respected Gin for that, being able to hold onto your obligations for so long and go to these lengths to see them through. It was a small part, but it was there, however…

The chaos and destruction he instigated along the way and the evil he helped perpetrate did not seem to amount to the promise he tried to keep. For over a century the man was involved in Aizen's plans, who knows how many suffered because of him, and Gin stood by and allowed it to happen. For no other reason than to wait for the right moment to strike, a moment that could have seen the end of the Soul Society.

Toshiro did not trust him, as much as he came here for the man, he still couldn't convince himself fully to put his faith in him. It made Toshiro feel sick, that he had to rely on him now, put aside his grievances just to ensure the safety of the Soul Society. But that was the point of the Gotei wasn't it? To put aside all other concerns and personal feelings to do what must be done to ensure the safety of the Balance.

He had done it many times before, why not now?

"The Soul Society is under threat."

"When is it not?" Gin said offhandedly.

"Not like this," Toshiro stated. "Ichigo Kurosaki has found proof that there is an army of Quincy preparing to invade the Soul Society. Led by a man the Captain Commander thought to have killed a thousand years ago."

Yet instead of scoffing or making light of this news as Toshiro expected, Gin opened his eyes, the miscolored orbs looking back to him seriously. "So, Yhwach is still alive."

"You know who he is?" Toshiro asked, surprised that the man knew the man.

"We can say what we want about Aizen, but he was always thorough in anything he ever did," Gin said. simply. "After we eliminated Central 46 and worked out of their building, we had access to all of their records. Even the 'forbidden texts'. The ones they make sure to either edit or bury so many of their dirty little secrets, like Yhwach and the War of Blood, they made sure it faded away from memory." He looked up to Toshiro. "I have done many wicked things in pursuit of my vengeance but helping to kill those corrupt pieces of shit was something I never regretted."

"Sadly, I can't have you killing them this time."

Gin blinked. "'This time'?"

"Central 46 has been restored and sadly, they are even more corrupt, more incompetent than the men you, Aizen and Tosen killed," Toshiro explained. "They have turned members of our own squads to their side, get them to plant surveillance devices in all of our squads' barracks. It is because of those devices they have learned of Kurosaki's Quincy status and thus have banned him from entering Soul Society until his life has ended."

"Well, what do you know?" Gin asked before letting out a whistle. "That is a surprise to hear. Given he has Hollow powers it is to be expected that they wouldn't mix well with Quincy power. Guess he is an exception."

But then what jovialness Gin had changed, his expression turning sour. "Of course, Central 46's decisions are laughably predictable and asinine. Most of what they do is not up to the Wise Men, instead, it is up to the Nobility that lines their pockets and also gives them influence. You would be surprised how quickly they sell their morals and obligations down the road for a few coins."

"That corruption is precisely the problem we need to deal with, we need to know who they are working for. But we cannot investigate while we are being monitored… but, if we had an agent that no one thought was alive or affiliated with the Gotei to do so…"

Gin looked up to Toshiro as if he were out of his mind. "I took you for many things. A fool was never one of them." He held up the stump of his right arm. "Rangiku cauterized my right arm to stop the bleeding but it also made it impossible for a prosthetic replacement to work properly. And even if I had two good arms, Aizen did his damage. He may have narrowly missed my heart when he tried to kill me, but I haven't fully recovered from my injuries and it has been over a year now. If there were some kido to heal me, Unohana would be my only option but to do so would attract the very attention you wish to avoid."

Yet to the man's surprise, Toshiro simply smirked. "I'm surprised you haven't already figured out the solution to your problem. You did after all arrange for her kidnapping to Hueco Mundo."

At first, he wasn't sure what the Captain was going on about but his eyes did widen once he figured it out. The little Princess that Aizen had Ulquorria take in order to divide the Gotei's forces.

And her power.

"You should be fortunate that Matsumoto is friends with Orihime Inoue. It makes approaching her seem innocuous," Toshiro elaborated. "If you agree, I'll have Matsumoto bring Orihime here and she'll use her power to undo what has been done. You'll be back to your prime Gin and we need you to be at your prime."

The Captain saw he had Gin's full attention. "You were Aizen's knife in the dark. I want you to be ours in regard to Central 46. They are worse than they have ever been and even the Captain Commander has said that something is very wrong. He will not act against them due to his adherence to the law. But if something were to be found and brought to light of actions they should not be taking..."

"Then the old man would swiftly take their heads, using 'the law' as his pretext," Gin finished.

"If you are ever caught, you will be executed, by either Central or by the Gotei. We will not help you. You will be at their mercy, sentenced how they wish." Toshiro informed him. "But if you manage to survive all odds, that you manage to bring proof of Central's dirty dealings, I will do my part to grant you a pardon for your past crimes." He looked at the ex-captain, wondering if the promise of freedom would be enough for him or if he would need other methods.

Instead, Gin wore a mask of indifference as he slowly, painfully, got out of the bed and limped towards him until they were only a few feet apart. "Fix my body, swear to me Rangiku will face nothing for her part in saving me and I'll do whatever you ask. Anything after that, we will simply see." He held his left hand out in gesture. "Do we have an accord?"

Toshiro took the hand and shook it. "We have an accord."

* * *

Rangiku was cracking under the pressure.

Thoughts moved in and out of her mind rapidly that she could barely keep her head on straight. Looking to the doorway once again, for the possibly hundredth time, she wondered what was happening. She felt no spike in spiritual pressure, nor did she hear anything aside from hushed words, by all accounts they were having a calm discussion.

But a part of her couldn't help but think about what could go wrong. Her Captain may allow her to slide in her duties but she knew he wouldn't turn a blind eye to her activities. Not after the lengths, she has gone in order to help and hide Gin, imprisonment was a given. Likely when Toshiro was finished talking, Gin would be dead and she would be on her way to the Nest of Maggots.

All that time and effort wasted, trying to save him, protect him and it ends with both of their lives ending without a bang but a whimper.

"Matsumoto."

The sudden call took her by surprise, almost made her jump out of her own skin, she turned and Toshiro was standing there on the porch looking at her. Expression neutral, arms crossed and with a frown of concentration, he wanted to say something, but was holding himself back.

"You need to come back with me to the Seireitei, I need your help with something," Toshiro said, jumping off the porch and already moving off.

"Eh?" Rangiku looked at him, perplexed that he didn't say anything else, not even a scolding or firm reprimand for her actions. No, all he did was tell her to come back home and help with something you had to understand why she thought it was strange. "You're not going to ask about him?"

"I spoke with him and know the details, I am satisfied – for the moment – with his intentions. But that doesn't matter right now," Toshiro replied.

"But… isn't something like this kind of bad?" Rangiku asked, perplexed that even her Captain was being so quiet about it. "I mean, I did break the law and all that, while this isn't skipping out on paperwork I would think you would have scolded me. In fact, I have been bracing myself for it this entire…"

"Matsumoto, I know," Toshiro said, he came to a halt ahead of her, not turning to look at her. She didn't see his face, but she heard some apprehension in his words, noticed the tension in his shoulder, he was anxious. "Gin told me."

He looked at her, it was subtle, but she could see a look not often seen on her Captain's face, empathy. It took only a moment for her to realize what it could have been that Gin told him, a swath of emotions passed through her as she realized the horrible secret that had been revealed.

They warred in her and fought, to think that he would know about it. It was such a closely guarded secret that she didn't want to think on it a second longer, it was a memory she did not wish to share with anyone.

But now her Captain knew, she could see the look on his face. Something she hated more than anything.

"Don't…" She whispered harshly.

"Matsumoto," Toshiro said, turning to face her fully. "It may not…"

"Don't look at me like that. I don't want you to look at me like that," Rangiku hissed, her fists clenched. "I don't want your pity. I don't want that, Captain. I don't need it."

"Matsumoto, what was done to you…" Toshiro started, struggling to find the words

"I don't remember it!" Rangiku shouted, tears falling from her eyes, even as they held a fierce fiery glare.

Toshiro was taken aback, surprised by her response, they shone with shame, anger, and pain, all expressed in that angry gaze of hers. Her fists were clenched, her entire body shaking, emotions leaked from her like a pressure that suffocated you, it was impossible to not feel it.

"I don't remember what Aizen did to me that day. I can't even remember anything in my life from _before_ that day," Rangiku breathed, shaking her head and wiping away her tears. "But it doesn't matter. Whatever was taken is gone now and nothing can be done about that. There is only one thing that is important to me, more important than what they did to me or what Aizen took. It is Gin."

He had been everything to her. The life she had led up until now is because of him and the motivation he has given her to take hold of it. She was who she was now because she followed him. She had become a Shinigami because of him, rose to the rank of Lieutenant to be closer to him, risked her life just to save him.

"Gin is the one thing in my life that gave it meaning, he was the one person that gave me the will and drive to live on in this world. I felt like nothing in that moment, the short time he was not there, not there to guide me and raise me back up." Rangiku said.

As much as she says she didn't care, the truth was she didn't want to be seen differently, to be seen as weak and vulnerable. Because that was what she was back then, a scared little girl who could do nothing as something was ripped away from her. She had no idea what it was, the importance of it, or even if it would have made a difference in her life.

But she knew how it left her, listless, unable to truly feel anything in this world anymore. To be so worthless that nothing could drag you out of the dark despair that had consumed you, that was what she felt. Lost and alone, unable to do anything but exist, to wallow in the pain of feeling so empty on the inside that you cannot begin to decipher what has been lost.

"I can't lose him... I just can't." Rangiku muttered, looking to her Captain, silently begging him not to end it here.

"…Nothing will change Rangiku, I promise you that," Toshiro said after a long pause. "Not how I see you, not your rank or affiliation with the Gotei, and not with Gin."

"You mean…" Rangiku asked, hoping against all hope that maybe there was a chance he could be saved.

"I need you to come back to me if you want to help Gin you need to get Orihime Inoue here to heal him," Toshiro said, he turned around and started to walk.

Matsumoto blinked, surprised at the order, he was asking her to bring Orihime here? That could only mean one thing, he planned to have him healed and all back to full health. And from the way he was talking, the Captain wasn't going to report this. But why?! "What is going on? Why do you want to help him?"

A part of her couldn't fathom why her Captain would want to help Gin, she knew there was no love lost between them, so why?

"Do you want to save him? Not healed or restored, but saved from future persecution?" Toshiro asked, looking at her over the shoulder. "Help him now, and I will help clear his name."

Rangiku stopped dead in her tracks, was he serious.

"There are threats you don't know about Matsumoto. A war is coming and we need every advantage we can get." Toshiro said grimly. "Because we can sure our enemies will not rest on their own laurels. Gin has already agreed, so from this point onwards he will be fighting to save the Soul Society, and maybe, he can earn redemption down the road."

There was more to this than she could have known, but she did not bother to question it. She only took off after him and felt determination well in her, if this meant a way to pardon Gin she was all for it.

* * *

Things were going smoothly, his latest experiments have gone well. In fact, he was in the process of a new one. He smirked, Ichigo Kurosaki has always been an enigma to him, his potential and power are what made him one of the Five War Powers.

Yhwach knew that the young hybrid had so much untapped and unknown potential within him, that to look into the future and all its possibilities could even begin to touch upon his capabilities and their true heights. No, Ichigo was something that could not be fully defined and categorized, only contended with and fought with utmost seriousness.

Hence why he needed to resort to a new method, one he learned from the very boy who had been able to free himself from the connection all Quincy share with him. From catastrophe and setbacks one can still find a morsel of victory, and what he had attained from that act of defiance was nothing short of momentous.

Yhwach sat on his throne, waiting patiently for the doors to open to his throne room. Striding inside was Haschwalth and beside him was the newest addition to his ranks.

"I take it the test has concluded. Did he meet our expectations?"

"He performed as well as we anticipated. As instructed I have returned with him, intact." Haschwalth replied, bowing his head and stepping aside so the young Quincy could stand on his own.

The boy looked at him with clear disdain, one that was not even hidden, there was no point in really hiding such an expression. Yhwach knew of the young man's hatred for him, likely he had been informed of what happened to his mother. But it did not matter, the boy would soon bend the knee to him.

"Welcome, Uryu Ishida, to Silburn. Welcome home, my son borne in the light."

* * *

 **Final Author's Note: I know. Many of you were expecting Uryu's fight with Ebern this chapter, and I tried to put it here, but this was really Gin's chapter, to reintroduce him to the story and explain his survival. Putting that fight in front or at the end just didn't fit so I settled this ending for a stinger. Uryu's circumstances will be revealed next chapter, which may or may not conclude this Arc of the story. I may have to break the next chapter in half, depending on how long it gets.**


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